Symphony's Cascade Quartet walks away from head-on crash

The Great Falls Symphony has a lot to be grateful for this weekend as four of its principal members survived a near head-on collision Thursday near Seeley Lake.

For Cascade Quartet members Megan Karls, Mary Papoulis, Thad Suits and Maria Ritzenthaler, the drive started out just like the many others they had taken as a group. The quartet was returning from the Arts Northwest Conference in Tacoma, Wash.

At around 9:30 p.m. on Montana Highway 200 just past Clearwater Junction, driver Maria Ritzenthaler saw something you never want to see when you’re behind the wheel.

“All of a sudden there was a car in our lane of traffic coming toward us,” she said.

Ritzenthaler had just seconds to make a decision. She turned the wheel to the left trying to avoid the oncoming vehicle. She thinks she remembers honking the horn.

The other driver must have realized what was happening, Ritzenthaler said, because the car was attempting to pull back into its own lane when it struck the quartet’s rental car, crumpling the front bumper and driver’s side door.

Ritzenthaler managed to steer the car safely to a stop after the collision in spite of limited visibility and likely a fair amount of shock.

“I distinctly remember trying to see through this little patch between the side airbag and the front one,” she said. “I remember thinking ‘please don’t flip the car, please don’t flip the car.’”

Read:One killed, two injured in head-on crash near Kalispell

As they rolled to a stop, the four musicians did a quick roll call to see if everyone was OK and then quickly vacated the car because they thought they smelled something burning.

“With adrenaline kicking in, it felt like it took us 20 minutes to get out of the car, but it was probably like 30 seconds,” said Ritzenthaler. “We all got out and gave a big group hug and got our instruments out of the car very quickly.”

Ritzenthaler had to climb out the passenger side because her door wouldn’t open.

“The mechanic was absolutely floored when he looked at it this morning,” she said, adding that based on the damage, he was surprised she was uninjured.

While everyone was grabbing instruments, Thad Suits went running off to see if he could find the other car.

“A couple of other amazing humanitarians stopped to see if they could help,” said Ritzenthaler. “They got (the other driver) out of the car and ended up wrapping her in some sleeping bags until the ambulance could come.”

A helicopter took the other driver from the scene, according to Ritzenthaler, and emergency services checked out the quartet members. Aside from some soreness from the seatbelts and the airbags, everyone emerged unscathed.

Ritzenthaler came to Montana from Minneapolis in 2015, and this was the first time she’s ever been in a vehicle crash.

“The rest of the three in the group have been living in Montana a lot longer than I have, so all three of them are watching for deer or elk,” she said, “but when you see headlights coming straight toward you, you’re never expecting that.”

An ambulance transported the group to Seeley Lake, where they got an incredible surprise.

“The amazing firemen of Seeley Lake put us up in a hotel for the night,” said Ritzenthaler, “which was completely unexpected, especially since we’ve had such a bad fire season this year.”

The quartet stayed one night in Seeley Lake before returning to Great Falls Friday. Although none had any apparent injuries, symphony executive director Hillary Rose insisted they get checked out one more time when they got home.

“Hillary was very clear that we all needed to go to the doctor today even if we felt fine,” said Ritzenthaler, “so we all ended up at urgent care at the same time. All things considered, having a near head-on collision in the middle of nowhere Montana at high speeds, we were all very, very lucky.”

The quartet has been traveling a lot further this year to out of state engagements, and they and the Chinook Winds put on about 4,000 miles per year doing concerts and educational outreach.

"I’m just so thankful that everybody is OK, and we hope that the other driver is all right as well,” said Rose. “I feel like Maria did an outstanding job and potentially saved everyone’s lives with the actions that she took.”

As for Ritzenthaler, she is thankful for the symphony’s support throughout the ordeal and joked that the whole experience brought the musicians closer together.

“It was another quartet bonding moment,” she said. “With all the musical moments we have to deal with on a daily basis, then to deal with something that’s more life and death. We’re all very lucky to have each other, I think.”

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Traci Rosenbaum at 791-1490. Follow her on Twitter @GFTrib_TRosenba.