BELLEVUE, Wash. — It’s been several days since three men climbing the North Early Winters Spire in Okanogan County died after an anchor failure caused them to free fall hundreds of feet.
The fourth man in the group was able to get out and get help in New Halem, which is nearly 60 miles away from where the accident happened.
The Okanogan County Coroner’s Office has identified one of the victims as Oleksander Martynenko, who went by Alex, out of Bellevue.
“He had a very deep soul, and he was smart,” Olha, Alex’s wife, said
Martynenko says her husband made the trip to the North Cascades on Friday with 3 of his friends. She says Alex texted that night before waking up for that early hike. Olha shared the last message her husband ever read from her.
“Everything is good. Goodnight and I love you. It was last message,” Martynenko said.
Olha says she and her husband moved to the United States from Ukraine several years ago and have called the Pacific Northwest home for the past six. She says it was a dream of her husbands to move to the PNW.
‘He fell in love in mountains,’ Martynenko said. “He was very optimistic guy. And full of ideas on how to organize our lives,” she continued.
Martynenko says her husband was an avid hiker who did have climbing skills. She says whenever her husband goes out in nature like this, she doesn’t usually worry; however, she says something felt off after she tracked Alex’s location and it hadn’t changed for hours.
“All time before, I didn’t worry. But this time I felt something,” Martynenko said.
Martynenko says her and her husband had a lot of plans for the future, but says if there is anything that gives her some peace that she told Alex she loved him.
“I am happy that he read exactly this message about my feelings,” Martynenko said.
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