LINCOLN, Mass. -- Mountaineer Chris Kerrebrock 'knew he was going to die' and urged his companion to abandon him in a deep crevasse on Alaska's Mount McKinley and try to save himself, survivor Jim Wickwire said Monday.
Wickwire, 41, flew into Boston early Monday to meet with Kerrebrock's parents at their Lincoln home and tell them of their son's courage.
The Seattle, Wash., attorney said he was forced to abandon Kerrebrock, 25, to a certain death because he was caught 'like a piece of wood in a vise' 40-foot deep in a Mount McKinley crevasse into which he fell on May 8.
Both men were expert mountain climbers and members of a Seattle-based expedition scheduled to attempt to climb Mount Everest in the fall of 1982.
Wickwire said that he made repeated attempts to rescue Kerrebrock until it became obvious that his companion couldn't be budged from the crevasse.
Kerrebrock was sandwiched face down about 40 feet deep in the crevasse with his pack on top of him, Wickmire said.
Wickwire, who suffered a shoulder injury when he and Kerrebrock fell into the crevasse, was stranded on the mountain two weeks with little food before he was rescued by plane Thursday.
Kerrebrock, ho had been a guide at Washington's Mount Rainier, was a graduate student at Columbia University and a graduate of Oberlin College in Ohio. He was to have been deputy leader of the Seattle Everest expedition, which will be led by Lou Whittaker.
Wickwire said Sunday in Seattle before flying to Massachusetts that he talked at length with Kerrebrock before and after it became apparent the trapped climber couldn't be removed from the crevasse.
'It teaches you a lot about life,' said Wickwire. 'He knew he was going to die.'
Wickwire and Kerrebrock had planned to climb the Wickersham Wall, one of the most difficult routes up McKinley, but the accident occurred before they got to the base of the wall.
Wickwire said it was too early to evaluate, but felt that the Everest expedition will go on as scheduled. Wickwire said he's uncertain if he would stay with the expedition.
'I'm not giving it (climbing) up,' said Wickwire. 'But I must reassess where I'm at ... in a thoughtful way.'
