Copter Plucks 2 Hikers From Mount Rainier

(CBS/ AP)  An Army Chinook helicopter has rescued two hikers who were stranded high on the flank of Washington's Mount Rainier after a freak blizzard.

Mount Rainier National Park spokesman Kevin Bacher says they were picked up about 6:15 a.m. PDT Wednesday at Camp Muir for a flight to Madigan Hospital at the Army base near Tacoma for treatment or transport to another hospital.

The man and woman had frostbite and hypothermia from being caught overnight Monday in a blizzard that killed the woman's husband.

The two survivors are expected to recover, reports CBS News affiliate KIRO-TV.

The three had been on a day hike to Camp Muir when they were caught in the storm that dumped 2 feet of snow.

Bacher says the three people in their 30s from Bellevue, east of Seattle, were experienced climbers and two had reached the top of Mount Rainier before.

Bacher and Park Ranger Sandi Kinzer declined to identify the three, saying park officials were having difficulty contacting the dead hiker's family.

The three spent Monday night and early Tuesday trapped on the Muir snowfield before one of the hikers reached Camp Muir, a staging area for climbers high on the volcano's flank. From there he directed rescuers to the other hikers, one of whom died at the camp.

Three doctors, clients of a climbing concessionaire in the park, were at Camp Muir with the two surviving hikers, who were suffering from frostbite and hypothermia but were in stable condition, Bacher said.

The decision was made to wait for improved weather that would allow for a helicopter rescue, rather than risk exposing the two injured hikers to the elements.

"Since they are safe and stable where they are, we'll wait until we get a weather window to get them off the mountain," Kinzer said yesterday.

After a winter of heavy snowfall that forced repeated closure of mountain passes, unseasonably cold conditions have continued long into spring in Washington's Cascade Range. Paradise, the jumping off point for the trail to Camp Muir, received 2 feet of fresh snow overnight, with 5-foot drifts at the camp, Bacher said.

Bacher said rangers received a call at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday that the hikers were trapped in a blizzard.

Weather prevented a rescue attempt at that time, but one of the hikers reached Camp Muir at 7:15 a.m. The other hikers were found near Anvil Rock, a large outcropping at the edge of the Muir snowfield about 500 feet lower than Camp Muir.

Guides for local climbing companies have been assisting park rangers with the rescue.

International Mountain Guides had eight climbing clients and four guides at Camp Muir, while Rainier Mountaineering Inc. had 15 clients and a handful of guides there Tuesday. Both companies said their employees and clients were doing well, but hunkered down awaiting better weather.

"I do know it was a tough night up there for the weather, just because of what they were forecasting - high winds and low visibility and snow," said Jeff Martin, RMI operations manager. "Definitely not your typical June weather."

The bodies of two other hikers were found in California's Sierra Nevada backcountry last week.

El Dorado County Sheriff's Lt. Les Lovell said an autopsy performed Tuesday revealed that 70-year-old Thomas Hylton died of a heart of attack on June 2, the day he and 78-year-old Jerome Smith set out for a four-day backpacking trip in Desolation Wilderness just west of Lake Tahoe.

Smith left for help after his friend collapsed but fell down a hillside on his way back to the highway. The sheriff's office said he died from his injuries and exposure to the chilly overnight temperature.

The men's families reported them missing Thursday when they failed to return home to Lincoln, a bedroom community north of Sacramento.

[rushlimpdrug]

God allowed the copter to find the hikers because they were praying. Otherwise all would have been lost.
Posted by gopsoccermom at 11:26 AM


Yeah, but the devil put the mountain there.

So who wins?

[jw218389]

The Bush Administration will bill them for the $43,000 worth of fuel they used (200 gallons).

IMPEACH BUSH NOW!!!!!!!!

[sgtrds-e4]

Send them a bill.

[hoseobama]

"The story says the three hikers were "experienced". Planning a "day" trek to an elevation of 10,000 ft., in early june without adequate survival gear is not of experience. - Posted by jankebenz

As someone that knows this hike, I''m telling you people do it as a day hike. Camp Muir (10,000 ft) is a kick off point where most that climb Rainier leave from very early in the AM. Some just go up there to see the facilities.

Right now, we are experiencing very cold weather in Washington State. However, even the most experienced get surprised by this mountain that makes its own weather.

[iflash220]

why aren''t the climbers,hikers and day tripper''s required to post a deposit for their rescue if needed. if they don''t need to be rescued, they get their money back.
far to many "experienced" people needing to be rescued.

[michellem99-2009]

Vince just opened the door to go outside and I just checked KIRO TV site and at this posting it is 52 but feels colder. The wind. I did not grow up here but It is cold. One day it is warm the next chilly. I dress for the cold as if it warms up I can remove my jacket and carry it. ''member the weather she change.

[rowdywicca]

How sad. Condolences to the family on their loss!

[michellem99-2009]

We live in Seattle and it is colder than normal. Saw it on the TV. It happens that it is different in the mountains than low lands. So the mountains are pretty but treat them with respect. Sadly this does happen. I will say this. Those passes should not been open knowing the cold/bad weather. It was not safe. Carry gps in the mountains cell don''t work. It is not this cold here in June. I been here since 1999.

[gopsoccermom]

eggy1620, I would be in complete agreement with you if they had died.

[juliemd]

Even God can''t and doesn''t F#$% with Mother Nature! Free Will and Weather Rules!!!