5 hikers killed yesterday by landslide.

" one 13 yr old girl survived when her dad threw himself in front of her "

: parental mission accomplished.

Sounds like something a robot would say

Can't even imagine what the child must be thinking

"Parental mission accomplished " is appropriate.
Even if the father attempting to block a car-sized boulder was futile, the girl will at least have a view of her father as heroic for the attempt. Per the story, he placed his body between the boulder and his daughter. She suffered a broken leg.
She will be left with a both a terrible memory and a positive lesson of sacrifice, the positive lesson to be passed onward, I imagine.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/30/us/colorado-hikers-rockslide/index.html

The cause of the rockslide is not known, but Palmer said heavy rain this month in Colorado may have been a contributing factor.

I doubt Peter meant it as cold as it sounded.

Sad. My first thought was that the rain loosened everything up.

heavy rain combined with the freeze/thaw mention in the article is a major cause of rockfall

in squamish in the offseason, you really have to watch out for rockfall after the rain and the thawing cycle loosens out the rocks

anytime you are "hiking" or climbing near potential rock fall …. get through as fast as you can …

if rockfall is a serious issue, wear a helmet, you can get UL ones … it may not have helped in this case, but rocks hitting the head is a serious issue in climbing/scrambling

also if in a group, spread yourselves out … dont bunch up in the face of objective hazards … that way if something does happen, you minimize the casualties and have people that can respond

the squamish chief backside trail is likely one of the most popular in canada … even it can see rockfall as happened last year

Due to earlier than expected snow in the Cascades, two hikers were rescued yesterday in waist deep snow after running out of food and activating a beacon. Two other PCT hikers missing, last seen near Trout Lake, one was 24 hours overdue which led to the discovery that they are missing. Still not found but search continues today. Deep snow has buried the PCT so people are getting lost off trail.
* from MSNBC news *