I did this picture for my grandmother in memory of her older brother, Sonny.
December 10, 1946, a U.S. Marine Corps R4-D transport aircraft with 32 Marines aboard crashed into the South Tahoma Glacier on Mt. Rainier. Her brother, Sonny, is one of those that died.

Winter snowfall covered all traces of the plane and it's occupants, mostly young Marines who had just completed boot camp. In July, 1947, following several months of futile efforts to locate the crash site, Assistant Chief Ranger Bill Butler sighted the parts of the wreckage at about 8500 feet on the glacier. A month later Ranger Butler located the victims and other parts of the plane at about 10,000 feet.

Due to the extreme hazards from rock falls and avalanches from the adjacent Tahoma Cleaver during any possible attempt to evacuate the remains, the bodies were left to be covered by subsequent winter snows. The families elected not to have their Marines removed from the Mountain and incur more loss of life. Point Success towering above the remains is an appropriate headstone. For many subsequent years, in deference to parents and other survivors of the victims, most of South Tahoma Glacier was off-limits to travel and exploration.

 Anyways, I did it all in pastels, took me almost two months.