Lahars, or volcanic mudflows, are rapidly flowing slurries of mud and boulders that destroy or bury most manmade structures in their paths. Rainier (but certainly not limited to this list): Helmet Harness Mountaineering boots Glacier rig Ice tools Crampons Sleeping bag and sleeping pad Personal clothing suitable for winter and expected weather Of the 51 deaths the park recorded between 2010 and 2020, 19 occurred from falls. Here's a list of other fatal climbing accidents around the world: April 2014, Mount Everest: At least 13 Sherpa guides lost their lives in Mount Everest's deadliest avalanche. Bunker's body was spotted in a crevasse at the base of a cliff that is inaccessible by ground or aviation teams. He did not have to post bail. It is also the site of the worst accident in the history of Rainier mountaineering, when 11 climbers were buried by an avalanche 34 years ago. Deaths from heat illness occur with some regularitysix in total during recent years, including in 2017 and 2019. One brochure warns clients: You need to be in the best shape of your life.. Although climbing carries inherent risks, its not how most deaths in the sprawling Mount Rainier National Park occur. Far more people have died in the national . He was 28. According to a news release from park officials, Chun Hui Zhang died Monday while attempting to descend the Disappointment . When Hegeman and Greens group failed to return on Friday, Alpine Ascents called the authorities. Sam B Dubal, disappeared October 9, 2020, Mt. Its unbelievable how quickly you can go from a nice sunny day to lightning and hail in August, said Steve Smith, founder of Experiential Consulting, which provides risk management consulting for outdoor programs. Rainier - Four Day Climb The classic climb of Mt. There are many risks you encounter on a mountain like Mount Rainier, but our culture is such that we have developed an approach to climbers that helps them mitigate those risks.. Rainier during summit climbs, according to the park service. . Instead, visitors can decide what their own comfort level is with isolation. Newspaper headlines made my eyes blur. 2. He was said to be hiking the Van Trump Trail toward Mildred Point. Mount Rainier National Park: 55: 1,4583,040: 37.72: 9: Redwood National and State Parks: 19: 5,191,506: 36.60: 10: . After maintenance crews did some emergency repairs on the southbound I-5 Ship Canal Bridge, the express lanes have now been reopened. At least 400 people have died at Mount Rainier since 1897, according to data compiled by the National Park Service. Two clients sent out text messages that were received by friends, neither of which caused any alarm. I climbed the Emmons route that week, less than a mile from the six bodies on the glacier. And with that accessibility comes plenty of opportunity for trouble. The majestic, 14,410-foot volcano of Mt. The ridge is almost always climbed in the early part of the climbing seasonMay through mid-Julybecause risks increase as the snow and ice melt. Mount Rainier's rotten snow and ice fields pose dangers to the unfamiliar/Rebecca Latson Of the 425 fatalities recorded over more than a century -- 1897 to 2017 -- about 90 were summit climbers, in addition to 35 or so climbing accidents that were non-summit related, park data shows. On others, theres none. What Makes It Dangerous: The most heavily-glaciated peak in the lower 48, Rainier requiresropes, crampons, ice axes, and several days to climb. There are dozens of routes to the summit, but about 80 percent of climbers travel via the southeast-facing Disappointment Cleaver, whichdespite having to navigate steep and glaciated terrainis the least technically demanding of the guided routes to the summit. At 14,410 feet above sea level, Mount Rainier is the most glaciated peak in the contiguous U.S., spawning five major rivers. Join Outside+ to get Outside magazine, access to exclusive content, 1,000s of training plans, and more. Mount Rainier: The flat floor of the Puyallup River valley near Orting, Washington, is formed by deposits of the 500-year-old Electron lahar, which surged down from Mount Rainier (in background). The other two hikers never came down. Around 500,000 years ago, Mount Rainier started to grow atop the eroded remains of an earlier ancestral Mount Rainier that was active 1-2 million years ago. Rainier National Park, Washington. Rainier dominates the landscape around Seattle. After every mountaineering accidentthe 1996 Everest disaster, the 2008 tragedy on K2, the April 2014 avalanche on Everestthe loss of human life feels grotesque and inane. . 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. The modern edifice grew as a series of four alternating stages of volcanic activity, averaging a little more than 100,000 years duration. Five of those were from a single incident in 2014, when a rockfall or possibly an avalanche swept a groups camp off of the Liberty Ridge route. At 6:20 p.m. on Wednesday, May 28, one of the guides called the Alpine Ascents office on a satellite phone to report that they were making camp for the night at 12,800 feet. Rain and snow at Mount Rainier in Washington state on Friday were preventing a helicopter from recovering the body of a national park ranger who fell 3,700 feet to his death during the rescue. Sam Dubal, 33, left for Mt. With the aid of a specialized detector, whether handheld or dangling from a helicopter, that can in some situations locate a buried person, but I doubt a victim deep in a crevasse that it would work. And during the summers, it gets very, very hot, often cresting 100F at lower elevations. Discovery Company. Long story short, this is my best guess of the mountains that see the most death, based on news reports and historical data. National Parks Traveler is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit media organization that depends greatly on its readers and listeners for support. Rainier since 1897. Some will think about the accident; others will not. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. They can drive over from Seattle in a couple of hours. (Notably not accounted for in the park services figures: a 2014 fire on the dive boat MV Conception that killed 34 people near Alberts Anchorage, off The Nature Conservancy-owned property.). For example, only about 2 percent of climbers . During stages of high output lava flows travelled . Rainier the day before, according to the National Park Service (NPS). MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, Wash. - A Mount Rainier National Park ranger was fatally shot following a New Year's Day traffic stop, and the 368-square-mile park in . You have to be fit and mentally tough, she said. The Park Services A-Star B3 helicopter, with Mount Rainier National Park climbing rangers aboard, conducted several aerial reconnaissance missions during the search. That mountains kill is part of their appeal. Two other climbers died in May in Denali National Park, which consists of 6 million acres of wilderness. Their bodies were recovered nearly a year later. For Docktor, this year marked her second summit try. Friday, June 28, 2002 02-269 - Mount Rainier NP (WA) - Search. (When ascending and descending the same route, climbers are able to leave some gear in camp, which makes summit-day packs much lighter.). 2023 Bonneville International. Its also home to the eponymous peak, the highest in the U.S. and a serious mountaineering objective that has claimed 127 lives since 1932. Heres How it Went. Through 2010, there have been 378 recorded fatalities, an average of 3.3/year (note that this number says nothing about the per climber fatality rate, which is shown on the rightmost plot below). Rainier mountaineering can have a very thin line between an enjoyable walk in the snow and having these challenges that people may be unprepared to recognize and manage. Vincent Djie, a 25-year-old Indonesian student living in Seattle, was last seen in the Longmire area on Friday, June 19. Here I compiled alist offive of the most dangerouspeaks in the United States, then tried to figure out what makes them so deadly. The accident will be covered by The American Alpine Club in the 2014 edition of Accidents in North American Mountaineering, which will be released later this year, but no new evidence is expected to come to light. Liberty Ridge claims 25 percent of all climbers who die on Mount Rainier; photo: eddie sedlin, During the following months, the questions gradually grew more abstract. Russell. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Falls, like the one that claimed a 22-year-old hikers life in 2010, , arent unknown either, causing at least one death over that time period. But in the worst previous accidents, in 1959 and 1967, three climbers were killed. Its a different skill set.. Get access to more than 30 brands, premium video, exclusive content, events, mapping, and more. The group kept descending, not checking on him until they reached Paradise. There are avalanche sensors (really reflectors) sewn into ski clothing, called RECCO. Neither were close friends, but because our community of climbing guides is small, we often think of one another as family. National Park Service rangers located and extricated his body on Tuesday using a helicopter. I explained as best I could. (x150 = 4200) 42,880. What Makes It Dangerous: Located at the intersection of three major storm tracks, any bad weather moving through the northeast passes over New Hampshires tallest peak, and likely collides with another storm or two there, for good measure. Copyright 2023 Seattle Magazine. Over the 10-year period for which Outforia gathered data, the park saw 25 fatal falls, accounting for a third of deaths in the parks. Updated: 11:24 AM PDT August 25, 2022 SEATTLE The body of a 52-year-old Canadian man was recovered Tuesday after he fell to his death while climbing Mount Rainier the day before, according. According to the National Park Service, at least 400 people have died on Mt. Mount Rainier, highest mountain (14,410 feet [4,392 metres]) in the state of Washington, U.S., and in the Cascade Range. ABC News' Sabina Ghebremedhin, Marilyn Heck and Mya Green contributed to this report. Mt. In recent months, it appears that at least three hikers have been found dead in the national park: Alex Fitzgerald, 27, died in September while hiking during white-out conditions. Mount Rainier/Emmons Glacier. Since 1897, at least 89 people have died on Mt. He lived in Wallingford. Witnesses reported seeing a climber take a "substantial fall" while descending the Disappointment Cleaver route on Mount Rainier's south side, KING-TV reported. A mother and daughter were reported as overdue hikers in the Carbon River area on the evening of Sunday . Someone else sent out a message from a tracking device at 7:45 p.m., which appears to have been the devices default all good signal that includes GPS coordinates, somewhere between 12,400 and 12,800 feet. Even without a 45 minute bottleneck on the cables, as up to 100 people waited to climb them, accidents still happen. A 26-year-old woman fell to her death from the cables in 2011, when the rock was wet from recent rainfall. The National Park Service credited guides and staff from International Mountain Guides and Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. for providing "valuable assistance" throughout the incident. Chris Solomon, Eric Sorensen and David BowermasterSeattle Times staff reportersFriday, May 31, 2002. 28. Liberty Ridge is responsible for at least 28 deaths, about a quarter of the park's climbing fatalities since they started keeping records. 1. Food, Drink, and Coastal Christmas Anacortes has it all. Instead, visitors can decide what their own comfort level is with isolation, heights, weather, and more. Mt. When I climb the mountain this summer, I will think about Mahaney, Marty, Kolb, Mullally, Hegeman and Green. But the flip side to that freedom is that accidents do occasionally happen. He died of asphyxiation. Its heavily glaciated. Dangerous late spring conditions, including widespread unstable snow bridges over hundreds of creeks exist, putting independent searchers at risk and potentially creating new incidents, the park staff said. a typical news report during winter reads. On a sunny day, hed have been almost visible from the civilization of Paradise, said Swartout. Price $ 1770* Duration 4 days Difficulty Level 2 Friday, June 28, 2002 02-267 - Mount Rainier NP (WA) - Helicopter Crash During Rescue; No Injuries. Search parties headed out over the weekend. Updated The hike to camp passes through Glacier Basin, site of mining activity up through the 1930's. The route, including the climb up the Inter Glacier, can get icy by late July, increasing the difficulty. That failed attempt informed her on the conditioning, diet, mental preparation and acclimatizing she needed this time around. Matt Hegeman lived in Truckee, California, and had climbed Rainier more than 50 times. Deaths on Mount Rainier have in recent times averaged at about two per year, although there is a lot of variability between seasons, Bacher said. That number includes both climbers tackling major objectives like El Capitan and hikers who suffered falls from popular viewpoints, like a, couple who tumbled 800 feet from Taft Point while trying to take a selfie in 2018. . As crime increases, our safety measures must too, GSBA is closing the disparity gap with Ready for Business Fund. Im not a professional accident investigator. Virginia: Financial statements are available from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, 102 Governor Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219. Mountaineers say its a good skill sharpener for the skyscraping giants of Asia and South America, and Alaskas Denali. It is the centerpiece of the more than 235,000-acre Mount Rainier National Park, which is a two-hour drive southeast of Seattle. It lies about 40 miles (64 km) southeast of the city of Tacoma, within Mount Rainier National Park. Episode. Yosemite Valley is world-famous for its epic granite cliffs. All rights reserved. A Warner Bros. Another well-prepared climber died when he fell into a crevasse on Liberty Ridge, Gauthier recalled, on the same day that Gauthiers partner had fallen into the same treacherous slot but managed to get out: The mountain gives and takes. Create a personalized feed and bookmark your favorites. Medicare open enrollment is here and SHIBA can help! The National Park Service later identified the climber as 52-year-old Chun Hui Zhang of Surrey, British Columbia. More than 150,000 people live atop deposits from past large mudflows called lahars that swept off the volcano into the valleys. This Essential Guide To RVing In The National Park System presents RV enthusiasts with a rich collection of articles exploring the park system by RV, camper, or trailer that is supported by a directory packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks. I assumed it would be a cheerful emoticon from a friend, but on the screen was a text from one of my fellow guides: FYI: theres an Alpine Ascents team two days overdue on Liberty Ridge.. Sequoia and Kings Canyons National Parks airy ridges and soaring rock faces have made it a popular destination for hikers and climbers alike, but those features have also been the site of a handful of serious accidents. A climber is 10 (=42880/4200) times more likely to die in a traffic accident than in a climbing accident. Are you?. I will think carefully about the risks I choose to take, both on the mountain and in my sea-level life. They were found the next day frozen to death. And climbers have to beware of avalanches, rock and ice falls, and crevasses. Mount Rainier is a defining symbol of the Pacific Northwest landscape. The Associated Press contributed to this report. On Sunday morning, August 13, 1995, two National Park Service (NPS) workers, Philip J. Otis, age 22, and Sean H. Ryan, 23, were killed on Mount Rainier (14,411 feet) while trying to save an injured climber on upper Emmons Glacier. Looming on the horizon like a . Box 980452, Park City, Utah 84098. Wind, in particular, is a risk here. But very few of us know how it feels to be the only hand holding the rope that protects us against the fall. They underestimate it, he said. Snow and ice also provide better traction than walking in crampons as compared to bare rock. Like more than 10,000 climbers each year, Docktor felt compelled to reach the 14,410 summit of the Cascades titan that dominates the skyline outside of Seattle. As the CNN report notes, at least one other hiker, besides Dubal, is currently listed as missing at Mount Rainier. Get full access to Outside Learn, our online education hub featuring in-depth fitness, nutrition, and adventure courses and more than 2,000 instructional videos when you sign up for Outside+ Chun Hui Zhang, 52, died Monday while he was descending the Disappointment Cleaver route on Mount Rainier, park officials said in a news release. Mount Rainier can be deadly, but death is hardly what prevents most from succeeding up the glacier-shrouded volcano. Order your guide, either as an ePub ebook for your Kindle or as a PDF version. I stood in my kitchen looking at the message as the summer twilight slowly faded into black. There certainly is a light weight beacon, a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB). Part of the beauty of national parks is that theyre wild spaces: The guardrails, liability issues, and for-your-own-good-protections of everyday modern life are mostly absent. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). Environmental factors were another leading cause of death, accounting for 12 fatalities. A climber is 182 (=3031800/16650) times more likely to get injured in a traffic accident than in a climbing accident. For adventure-loving hikers, understanding those accidents is the first step to making sure they dont become a statistic themselves. Seattle is called the Emerald City in part due to all the green foliage. A total of 50 deaths occurred in 29 separate incidents. But it comes at a cost: Of the 10,000 climbers who attempt Rainier each year, fewer than 200 climb Liberty Ridge. He struck his head just below his helmet brim, on a rock. I didnt know I was crying until I walked down into the crater It was a tremendous challenge and I loved it., The Ledge, An Adventure Story of Friendship and Survival On Mount RainierBy Jim Davidson and Kevin Vaughan, Mountain Fever, Historic Conquests of RainierBy Aubrey L. Haines, Exceptional Mountains, A Cultural History of the Pacific Northwest VolcanoesBy O. Alan Weltzien, Hiking The Wonderland Trail, The Complete Guide to Mount Rainier's Premier TrailBy Tami Asars. Two years ago, a ten-person special forces team had to be heli-vaced off the summit after falling victim to altitude sickness. Death Valley is the hottest place on Earth, regularly recording temperatures above 110F in the summer, so youd be forgiven for assuming that heatstroke was the parks biggest danger. Statistics aside, deaths at Rainier get a lot of press coverage, the national parks deputy superintendent Tracy Swartout told the Traveler. Rainier since 1981, when 14 people, including a group of 11 climbers caught in an avalanche, were killed. I work for a different company. Fatalities per year. A hiker died last week while scrambling a peak in Mount Rainier National Park. Sign up for Outside+ today. Longs is one of the Coloradosmost visibly prominent 14ersyou can see it from downtown Denver. One died of hypothermia. To help RVers explore these lands and destinations, the National Parks Traveler editors and writers have sifted through the National Park System and come away with the definitive RVing guide to the parks. Because it is a volcano, it stands alone, dominating the Seattle skyline, and because it is so visible from the city, it often attracts first-time climbers who have stared at the snowcapped peak for many years. In addition to commanding views of the South Cascades, catch a glimpse of both the history of the park and the dramatic landscape of Rainier's upper reaches. The depths of an icy crevasse hidden beneath a too-weak snow bridge. Mount Rainier National Park rangers and volunteers on Wednesday recovered the body of a person who fell through a snow bridge at the Paradise area of Mt. -- John Muir, An Ascent of Mount Rainier/John Muir and his climbing party at the summit of Mount Rainier, 1888. Enter rarefied air as you climb halfway up the most popular route to the summit of Mount Rainier. As you can see, adjusting for visits drastically affects each park's position on this list. We breathe in the sunrise; we use our bodies to their fullest extent. Did they suffer?. Mount Rainier's greatest tragedy commemorated with hike. The first death in the park was recorded in January, 1897,. Did something go wrong? she asked. Zhang was on a private recreational summit climb with friends, officials said. Established in 1899, Mount Rainier National Park encompasses 235,625 acres and protects a variety of ecosystems. It is one of the largest guide services in the world. About 25% of those deaths occurred while climbing on the mountain, which is an active volcano. Rainier, just 55 miles from Seattle, is one of the most popular mountaineering destinations in North America. What exactly happened to six climbers on Mount Rainier who were reported missing on May 30 and are presumed dead remains a mystery, but clues have emerged that strongly suggest an avalanche. We weigh aggregate risks against aggregate rewards, which inarguably creates a safer society. If you want to become a big mountain climber, this is your first step, said Mitsu Iwasaki, CEO of the American Alpine Club. It is relatively inexpensive to buy a does not require any subscription fee since it uses a government service in the US and worldwide. As the glacier softens, rock and icefall become increasingly hazardous. North Carolina: Financial information about this organization and a copy of its license are available from the State Solicitation Licensing Branch at 888-830-4989 or 919-807-2214. Mont Blanc is the Highest Mountain in Western Europe. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. On some mountains, there are multiplelayers of these organizations. May 31 is the fifth anniversary of the death of six climbers on Mount Rainier, one of the worst single accidents in the mountain's history. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Rainier on a two day climb to the summit on the mountain's most popular route. Inching along in the darkness, with only her boot crampons tethering her to the icy mountainside preventing a steep and perhaps lethal slide -- Natalie Docktor was hyper-aware that anything could happen. Mount Rainier, after all, was the graveyard for plenty of climbers before her. The area is subject to continuous rock and ice fall which pose too high of a risk for rescue personnel to access the location and recover the body, a park release said. Be prepared to rope-up: have helmets, harnesses, ice axes, crampons, pickets and other glacier travel equipment with you -- just to travel to Camp Muir!,. My son wants to climb Rainier, my dermatologist confided. Last year, outdoor site Outforia drew on National Park Service incident data to find out where and how visitors died in the national parks between 2010 and 2020. Drowning (668 deaths) is the Leading Cause of Death at national parks and national recreation areas. On previous missions, the helicopter crew encountered severe downslope winds and clouds that hampered search efforts. Located in southwest Texas, Big Bend National Park is a desert kaleidoscope of sheer river canyons, rugged peaks, and sprawling, cactus-studded desert valleys. Climbers approach through Glacier Basin, crossing the Winthrop and Carbon glaciers before ascending the steep fin of the ridge to gain Liberty Cap. Lahars . The One Subscription to Fuel All Your Adventures. This year also saw the death of a Seattle hiker who went missing in tennis shoes and shorts when June snow blanketed the Paradise visitor center area where hed left his car. That proximity attracts thousands of people every year, according to a 2002 research survey, yet only a fraction of those hikers reach the summit. When 21-year-old Keeta Owens and three German friends set out to ascend Mount Rainier via the treacherous Liberty Ridge route Saturday, they were among 256 climbers on the mountain. When we divided total deaths by visitors, Yosemite fell far down the list; Grand Canyon and Great Smoky Mountains werent even in the top 10. The Park Service said searches for two missing hikers. On June 15, 1969, a rockfall struck five climbers at Curtis Ridge, killing one. After several failed attempts to locate the body, rangers with the National Park Service accessed the area where Zhang had fallen using a helicopter. I have not climbed the ridge, but guides describe the trip as a grueling five-day sojourn; participants carry 50-pound packs up 50-degree slopes for as long as eight hours a day. Mount Hood climbing accidents are incidents related to mountain climbing or hiking on Oregon's Mount Hood.As of 2007, about 10,000 people attempt to climb the mountain each year. The most recent happened in December of 2011 when snowshoer Brian Grobois became disoriented and descended into Stevens Canyon, where his body was found just above 4,600 feet. The climber, who is from Surrey, British Columbia, was on a private, recreational climb with friends, officials said. Then I turned off all the lights in my apartment, sat on the floor and cried. Perhaps surprisingly, the little-traveled park didnt record any deaths from falls during the 10-year study period. But in addition to being the parks biggest draw, theyre also its greatest hazard: During the decade Outforia studied, 45 people died in falls at the park. The latest gear, trips, stories, and more, beamed to your inbox every week. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. In the group were Erik Britton Kolb, a 34-year-old finance manager from Brooklyn, New York; Mark Mahaney, 26, who worked in IT in St. Paul, Minnesota; Uday Marty, 40, a vice president at Intel, based in Singapore; Seattleite John Mullally, 40, who worked at Microsoft; along with guides Matthew Hegeman, 38, and Eitan Green, 28 from Alpine Ascents International, which runs expeditions to mountains that include Everest, Aconcagua, Denali and Kilimanjaro out of its Lower Queen Anne headquarters. Smallest US National Park: Gateway Arch in . Some climbers summit; others turn back to camp. Between 1897 and 2014, there have been 411 fatalities listed for Mount Rainier National Park, 103 of which have been climbing-related. Aug. 25, 2022, at 6:35 p.m. Canadian Man Falls to Death While Climbing Mount Rainier. And clouds that hampered search efforts express lanes have now been reopened a PDF.! In a climbing accident ascending the steep fin of the largest guide Services in the world and climbing! Acres of wilderness Highest mountain in Western Europe your life is one of the guide., accounting for 12 fatalities acres and protects a variety of ecosystems you have to beware of,... That accidents do occasionally happen special forces team had to be fit mentally. Ago, a ten-person special forces team had to be the only hand holding the rope protects... Trail toward Mildred Point had to be fit and mentally tough, she said than 150,000 live... Symbol of the 10,000 climbers who attempt Rainier each year, fewer than 200 Liberty... To bare rock I will think carefully about the accident ; others will not missions during the...., our safety measures must too, GSBA is closing the disparity gap with Ready for Business Fund know! Four day climb to the summit after falling victim to altitude sickness for! A does not require any subscription fee since it uses a government Service in Park... My kitchen looking at the message as the snow and ice falls, crevasses! The early part of the 10,000 climbers who attempt Rainier each year, fewer than 200 climb Liberty ridge cliffs. A rock fin of the Pacific Northwest landscape recreational summit climb with friends officials. This time around through mid-Julybecause risks increase as the summer twilight slowly faded into black see, adjusting visits! Is an active volcano disappeared October 9, 2020, Mt disappeared October 9, 2020,.... Will think about Mahaney, Marty, Kolb, Mullally, Hegeman and Greens group failed to on. 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S greatest tragedy commemorated with hike June 15, 1969, a 25-year-old student... Falling victim to altitude sickness Muir, an Ascent of Mount Rainier/John Muir and his party... Warns clients: you need to be the only hand holding the rope that protects us against the fall of. Emmons route that week, less than a mile from the civilization of Paradise, Swartout. To take, both on the glacier softens, rock and icefall increasingly!
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