Wife Dies, Husband Rescued After Couple Becomes Stranded in Snowstorm at the Enchantments, WA

On Sunday, September 13, an Oklahoma woman died of hypothermia after being caught in a late-summer snowstorm while attempting to thru-hike the Enchantments in Washington state.

On Sunday afternoon, conditions began to deteriorate significantly as Sybil Claborn and her husband entered the remote, high-elevation Core Zone. The couple, traveling with no overnight gear, were halted by an early-season storm that dropped nearly two feet of snow on the region, making travel nearly impossible. They became stranded between 7,000 and 8,000 feet, roughly nine miles from the nearest trailhead.

At 5:26 p.m., Claborn’s husband texted 911, reporting that his wife was unable to move. In a follow-up call around 5:50 p.m., he reported that she was under an emergency blanket, buried by more than a foot of snow, and that the two were in immediate need of rescue.

At 8 p.m. and 10:50 p.m., respectively, two rescue attempts were made by helicopter, but neither was successful. In both instances, the pilots were forced to turn back as the snowstorm made air travel and landing nearly impossible.

It was not until 3:30 a.m. on Monday, September 14, that a Chelan County Mountain Rescue team finally made contact with the couple on foot. Sybil Claborn had tragically already died, while her husband was found alive but suffering from severe hypothermia. He was placed in a tent and warmed through the night before a helicopter was finally able to reach the group around 9 a.m.

The husband was then transported to Cascade Medical Center in Leavenworth for treatment of his hypothermia, while Sybil Claborn was transported to the Chelan County Coroner’s office around midday on Monday.

The Enchantments is a region within the greater Alpine Lakes Wilderness area of the Central Cascades in Washington, located just a few miles from the popular tourist destination of Leavenworth. The area is renowned for its sweeping views of surrounding mountain scenery, jagged glacier-cut peaks, and a plethora of high-altitude, emerald-colored alpine lakes.

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While camping is permitted within the Enchantments, permits are difficult to obtain, given the area’s popularity and proximity to Seattle. Every year, about 2,500 permits are awarded to just 6% of the roughly 40,000 people who enter the “lottery” — to put it differently, the odds of getting a permit to camp in this coveted area are one in 50.

Because permits are so hard to come by, tens of thousands of visitors a year wishing to experience the Enchantments in full attempt to hike the entire 19-mile point-to-point trail in a single day. The hike, dubbed the Enchantments traverse, stretches from the Colchuck Lake trailhead to the Snow Lake trailhead on the valley floor, crossing four of the five Enchantments zones, including the high-altitude Core Zone.

The Enchantments traverse involves nearly 5,000 feet of elevation gain, includes sections with gradients around 40%, and tops out at 7,825 feet above sea level. Given the length, elevation gain, and high-altitude nature of the traverse, the trail is officially graded as strenuous by AllTrails — the site’s most difficult grade — and can become dangerous if attempted in less-than-ideal conditions.

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The Chelan County Coroner’s Office is investigating Claborn’s cause and manner of death. The incident is a tragic reminder of just how quickly September conditions can change in the high country.