Rescuers plan difficult retrieval of Seattle climber's body

Hampered by difficult terrain and deteriorating weather, rescuers carefully planned Saturday how to recover the body of Seattle attorney John Arum, who died mountain climbing in Washington's North Cascades National Park.

"This is going to be a fairly technical and high-risk recovery," park spokeswoman Kerry Olson said.

After a five-day search, the body of the 49-year-old Arum, a highly respected environmental attorney and outdoor enthusiast, was spotted Friday afternoon from a National Park Service helicopter at about 7,700 feet on the north face of 8,500-foot Storm King Mountain.

Olson said it appeared that Arum, an experienced climber, had fallen.

His day pack was found higher on the mountain on Thursday; Olson said the body was about 300 feet below that spot, in an extremely steep area with a lot of loose rock.

National Park Service workers were trying to develop a plan to recover the body, which is in an area so rugged "that people can't rappel down or climb up to it," Olson said.

The search began Monday after Arum failed to return from a solo weekend trip to scale the mountain, about 85 miles northeast of Seattle. Relatives said the climb was part of Arum's goal of climbing the 100 highest peaks in the state. Olson said he had planned to climb the peak Aug. 28, so he probably died that day.

Arum's father, boxing promoter Bob Arum, joined rangers coordinating the search effort, leaving a tour to promote the Nov. 13 fight between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito.

John Arum got his undergraduate degree in political science from Reed College in Oregon and graduated from the University of Washington Law School. He was a longtime board member of the Washington Environmental Council, an advocacy group linking more than 50 organizations in the state.

"He was a brilliant lawyer, and he was the epitome of volunteerism," said Clifford Traisman, the council's Olympia lobbyist. "The environmental community and many others are going to miss him terribly. He was a good friend, so it's very sad."

His death has devastated his colleagues, said Marc Slonim, a principal in Arum's law firm.

"He was one of Washington's premier environmental lawyers, achieving major successes in litigation to protect and preserve natural resources," often working for free, Slonim said.

Arum played a significant role in helping to protect Eastern Washington's Loomis Forest in 1999. He also was instrumental in achieving a landmark water agreement in 2007 that ended six years of negotiations between environmentalists and Eastern Washington farmers. And he represented the Makah Nation, a coastal tribe that has sought to resume its tradition of hunting whales.

"John was a passionate advocate for environmental protection and sound environmental policy. While, on occasion, John and the Department of Natural Resources were at odds, we all agreed that the beauty of Washington's wild places was worth protecting," said state Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark.

"We have lost a friend who never stopped advocating for the public interest."