LONGMIRE — A short search by five rescuers this morning on Mount Rainier turned up no signs of four stranded people, park spokeswoman Patti Wold said.
The search has been suspended because of inclement weather. The searchers included two who spent the night at Camp Muir and three who hiked up this morning. Weather also prevented the use of a helicopter.
The missing parties — two climbers and two snow campers — are prepared for nasty weather but do not have snowshoes or skis and will need to be assisted down the mountain, Wold said.
On Thursday, two of the 10 experienced rescuers remained at Muir overnight to get an early start today while the others returned to Paradise searching the snowfield as they descended.
Snow is piling up by the foot on the mountain and wind gusts have exceeded 100 mph.
"It really is pointless to slowly break trail in blizzard conditions …,” said Stefan Lofgren, head of Rainier’s climbing program but not part of this search. “You can’t place people at risk in the same weather that pinned down the people you are trying to rescue.”
Two campers — Mark Vucich, 37, of San Diego and Michelle Trojanowski, 30, of Atlanta — were due off the mountain Sunday. Two climbers, whose names have not been released, from Springfield, Ore., were scheduled to return Monday.
Thursday’s search party consisted of park climbing rangers, members of Seattle and Everett mountain rescue and guides from International Mountain Guides and Rainier Mountaineering Inc.
Faye Vucich, Mark’s stepmother, told the Associated Press that Vucich was well equipped and had outdoor experience, but not in the snow. She lives in Auburn and said she never met Trojanowski.
“The whole family is saying ‘no comment,’” Faye Vucich told the Associated Press. “My husband is too distraught to even talk. The Park Service has been incredible in calling us and telling us what they can do and what they can’t
“Mark is very knowledgeable about survival techniques — mostly self-taught, from going places with other mountain climbing friends. They’ve got everything they need to survive something like this, but I don’t know how many days. We’re trying to stay optimistic.”
A search helicopter is on standby at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
There is a public shelter at Camp Muir — 10,188 feet up the southeast side of the mountain — and a park radio that can be used for emergencies. Lofgren said the radio was tested last week and was working. He said it is also not uncommon for people not to use the radio because they don’t think of their situation as an emergency and “they don’t want to cause alarm.”
The road to Paradise was closed today, Wold said.
