Teen killed in fall at Rattlesnake Ledge

A teenager was killed Saturday after a fall at Rattlesnake Ledge, officials with the King County Sheriff’s Office said.

Family members confirmed Eddie Petrik fell to his death as three friends looked in horror.

Petrik's mother said her son was an avid hiker, and it was nothing new for him to be hiking in the Cascade Mountains, but the hikers may not have expected the winter-like conditions they encountered.

"It was clear," Ankit Singhal, a hiker on his way down off the mountain, said. "Weather is great, but just too icy."

According to King County Sheriff's deputies, Petrik was with three friends, two females and a male.

The group made it to the top of the ledge but the ice proved too much, and Petrik plunged some 600 feet.

"Our King County Search and Rescue along with Eastside Fire got here fairly quickly," said Sgt. Ryan Abbot, King County Sheriff's Department spokesman.

"And they were able to locate the victim. Unfortunately, he had died from the fall at the bottom."

King County Search and Rescue were in the midst of training nearly 40 volunteers when they got the call. They pressed all of them into service and reached the victim in record time.

"We set up our teams," said Alan LaBissoniere. "We got gear together. You're probably like about an hour total, you know. But that's best-case scenario for us."

The King County Sheriff's office says, on average, two people fall to their deaths on Rattlesnake Ledge each year.

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