SEATTLE — An avalanche on Mount Rainier sent a mass of snow cascading down a slope early Saturday, burying at least four people, a national park spokeswoman said, and at least one climber remained missing more than 12 hours later.
A search was under way on Mount Rainier, some 60 miles east of Seattle, for the missing climber and a skier reported in the area who may also have been missing, said Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman Patti Wold.
At about 4:45 a.m. Saturday, several climbing teams were overtaken by the slab avalanche that occurred at 12,500-foot level when a large plate of snow broke away from the mountain.
The avalanche was several thousand feet wide and ran about 1,200 feet down the Ingraham Direct Route.
A helicopter from the U.S. Army Reserve out of Fort Lewis airlifted two injured climbers and six rescuers from the upper mountain Saturday afternoon. Wold said those two climbers were flown to an area hospital and were in stable condition with lacerations and other injuries. A third climber caught in the avalanche was able to walk down the mountain.
Wold said she believes the missing person may have been climbing alone.
A Hughes 500 helicopter is conducting an aerial search. A ground search is not possible because of high avalanche danger.
According to Colorado Avalanche Information Center, there have been 34 avalanche fatalities nationwide in the 2009-2010 season.
About 5 percent of the more than 10,000 who climbed the 14,411-foot Mount Rainier last year used the Ingraham Direct, according to a park report.
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