Updated at 11:36 a.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A search is underway at Mount Rainier for a missing snowshoer from Puyallup who disappeared during Saturday evening’s winter storm.
A hasty search with the Nordic Patrol took place yesterday but this morning personnel are in the air and on the ground in the area above Paradise, according to a park official.
They are looking around Edith Creek to the upper Stevens Canyon drainage, according to Mount Rainier National Park spokesperson Patti Wold.
Current conditions are cold and windy, according to Wold, and avalanche conditions are considerable. The air search will focus on high avalanche areas.
The road to Paradise will remain closed during the search.
Wold said this morning in a news release: The missing individual intended to overnight at Camp Muir, but was forced to descend due to formidable winter storm conditions.
A second party took him into their shelter at Panorama Point, she stated, but when the shelter was destroyed by the extreme conditions they attempted to complete their descent to Paradise together.
But during the descent the individual separated from the party in the vicinity of Edith Creek, according to Wold.
Responders include members of Tacoma, Everett, Seattle, and Olympic Mountain Rescues, U.S. Army Reserve 214th Air Division out of Joint Base Lewis McChord and park climbing rangers.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
6 o’clock news reported they found the man deceased. Sorry for his family.