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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Mount Rainier rescue underway to retrieve climbers, snowshoer

In this photo taken in November 2015, a man snowshoes on the Paradise Valley Road at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington. (Jeffrey Mayor / The News Tribune)
In this photo taken in November 2015, a man snowshoes on the Paradise Valley Road at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington. (Jeffrey Mayor / The News Tribune)

PARKS  — Crews are working to rescue two climbers and a snowshoer off Mount Rainier after they were caught in a weekend storm, the Associated Press reports.

Park spokeswoman Patti Wold says a Chinook helicopter crew will try again Monday to reach them after extreme weather conditions kept rescuers off the mountain Sunday.

Wold says a 26-year-old man from Lacey, who was snowshoeing alone, is in stable condition at Camp Muir. One of two climbers in a separate party is also in stable condition at the 10,188-foot camp. The climber’s partner is higher up the mountain, and his condition wasn’t available.

Park officials began looking for the two climbers on Sunday after others reported seeing their overnight gear on the mountain but not them. The climbers had set out Thursday to summit the 14,410-foot glaciated peak.

In a separate incident, the park received signals from a spot locator beacon Saturday night that belonged to the snowshoer.



Rich Landers
Rich Landers joined The Spokesman-Review in 1977. He is the Outdoors editor for the Sports Department writing and photographing stories about hiking, hunting, fishing, boating, conservation, nature and wildlife and related topics.

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