Climber Missing After Massive Avalanche On Mt. Rainier

MT. RAINIER - There is still no sign of a missing climber on Mount Rainier. Helicopters searched the mountainside all day long, but the search was called off because of darkness late Saturday.

Park Officials say 11 climbers got caught in the avalanche about 4:45 AM Saturday.

The climbers were on the Ingraham Glacier direct route at 12,500 feet when a huge slab avalanche took them out. The massive snow slide was between 3 and 4,000 feet wide and rumbled some 1,200 feet down the mountain side.

All of the climbers were buried in the avalanche. Out of the 11 people that got trapped in the snow and ice ten of them made it out.

One person hiked down to Camp Muir for help. Two injured climbers along with 6 search and rescuers were removed by helicopter. The climbers were taken to a local hospital for cuts and bruises but are reported to be in stable condition.

Helicopters searched the slide area all day long. Mountaineer District Ranger Stefan Lofgren says the snow is unstable and the avalanche danger is extremely high, which made it too dangerous to have rescuers do a ground search.

"Our search efforts were about 1,500 to 1,000 feet above ground level. We were still able to get a good eyeball we did not see any evidence of anybody, the one person we'd like to find," said Lofgren.

Park Officials believe the missing climber is a foreign national that was climbing by themselves and didn't register before their climb.

Recently lots of snow fell on Mount Rainier and with the warm weather it might have softened the snow and ice and triggered the avalanche.

The search to find the missing climber could resume Sunday morning. Park Officials say their efforts could be delayed by bad weather moving into the area.