At 1211 the NPS rescue helicopter and a small plane, flying cover for the helicopter, took off from Talkeetna bound for the Kahiltna. The helicopter would pick-up the NPS ranger at the base camp. Conditions were favorable and short-haul recovery was made. The NPS ranger was lowered to the ground where he check the deceased. The two bodies were attached to the short-haul rope and flown back to the base camp and then transferred to the small plane and transported to Talkeetna.
Rangers report that the approach to the face has been made only twice before.
It seems the avalanche might have been triggered when the climbers moved from the ice and onto the snow slope, or the avalanche might have been triggered by falling debris from above. These were the 26th and 27th avalanche fatalities of the 1995-96 season.