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Subscribe to RSSAuthorities on Tuesday recovered a man's body on Mount Rainier after a group of hikers discovered some clothes under rapidly melting snow a day earlier.
The body was found near a trail -- at about 8,000 feet in elevation -- at Muir Snowfield at Mount Rainier National Park. A group made the discovery as it descended from Camp Muir.
Authorities aren't certain, but there's a "good chance" the body is connected to four missing climbers who were lost in storms in January, park spokesperson Patti Wold told NBC News.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner is working to identify the body. It appeared to have been "under snow for some time," Wold said in a statement.
No other bodies were found, but the search for the climbers continues on a limited basis. Warmer weather over the next couple months could melt more snow and possibly reveal more evidence.
The climbers were part of two separate groups lost in January: Mark Vucich, 37, of San Diego and Michelle Trojanowski, 30, of Atlanta; and Sork (Erik) Yang, 52, of Springfield, Ore. and Seol Hee Jin, 52, from South Korea, according to Seattle's NBC affiliate KING 5.
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With so many deaths occuring on this mountain during the winter months why doesn't the parks Dept. close it until more seasonable weather months. Either that or every hiker needs to sign a form that states that no rescue crews will be sent to fetch your dumb butt off the mountain during these months. Earlier this year a ranger got killed on one such rescue mission. If these climbers want to put their lives at risk and climb Rainer or Hood in the dead of winter then they shouldn't expect anyone else to put their lives at risk to get them down if something goes wrong.
They also should post a large bond to cover the cost of retrieving them in case of a rescue/recovery is needed during the summer months. It is refundable when you get back down on your own and pick it up in person.
I am not a mountain climber and I could be way off base, but I seem to recall an associate who has climbed Rainier several times say that it is safer to climb in the winter than ths spring/summer because the thawing ice & melting snow make climbing conditions more dangerous that a winter snow storm.
Rescue workers are VOLUNTEERS. No one forces them to do what they do. Trying to save another person is nothing but heroic.
So what you are saying is that anyone who volunteers as a rescue worker, their life is less than those who purposely put their life in danger for the thrill. That those who go and climb mountains for the thrill can do so with complete disregard for those who have to go fetch them off the side of a mountain when something goes wrong. Some logic there. At some point even the rescue workers should know when to turn back because it is getting too dangerous.
They don't "have to go fetch them" and believe me they know the mountains and terrain they are going into and will turn back if need be. Notice they didn't find these people in January.
As I said in an earlier post, last winter a park ranger was killed in a rescue effort for stranded hikers on either Mt. Hood or Rainer. If they are alive and stuck on those mountains with the ability to communicate via phone or radio then the rescue teams keep going and put their lives in danger. It is only when they can't find or communicate with them will they finally give up searching after many days of risking their lives. Hikers to this mountain have to apply for a hiking permit and register for the day they set off. They are giving so much time to complete the journey and check back in with the ranger station. When they don't show up on time then the rangers set out on a rescue mission. This is how I have had to do it 3 times on Mt. Whitney and the same procedure is used for Hood and Rainier. It is done as a reservation system to limit the amount of people on the mountain at one time.
Dave,I couldn't have said it better myself.
Condolences to the family, an unfortunate resolution.
Does anyone else find the phrasing of the article title odd? "Body" could have gone missing? How about body found could have been missing climber? or anything else. Just odd phraseology.
It's a STIFF!!!!!!
WHataya Say! Ooopsy Daisy! Climbin Alone? I Don't Think So! Wheres Your Buddy!