NEWSTIPS

He was found alive and well at a friend's apartment. Seems he thought his friends left him so he hitched a ride to a friend's. All's well that ends well!

Okay, his name is Christopher Rulli. He's from Texas, but has apparently lived in Bellevue for the last year or so.

Just wnated to let you guys know we're up at Stevens Pass this morning for a report of a missing intermediate-skill snowboarder. We don't know much other than that he's a 24 year old Bellevue resident and was last seen in bounds near Granite Peak Lodge. King Co Sheriff's Office is coordinating a search. I'll update you if I get anything else.

The injured climber has been airlifted to Harborview. The 2 uninjured climbers are being debriefed by rangers at Marblemount. The recovery operation for the 3 deceased climbers is underway.

Just wanted you guys to know: This is confirmed information from the folks at the North Cascades National Park. The accident occurred appx 4p on Sunday, Jul 10 on Shark Fin tower (unknown elevation) in N Cascades National Park east of Marblemount, near Boston Basin A party of 6 climbers, 4 of whom were involved in the accident. 1 was seriously injured, 3 were killed, 2 are uninjured. Their names not being released yet pending family notification. A party of park rangers is approaching the scene, but it is unknown what caused the accident. A 2nd party of climbers were in the area when the accident happened and a member of that party has been in contact with park personnel via cellphone. A rescue helicopter standing by and will launch at first light to try and rescue the injured and uninjured clibmers...then they will work on recovering the deceased climbers. The weather conditions where the climbers are...raining through the night, overcast, but temps above freezing level. The climbers are all from washington state, but we don't know what city they're from until the families have been notified. Stay safe out there, guys!

They told us they were trying to complete the recovery operation before new snowfall began later today. I don't know about recent new snow, though.

BC-WA--MountRainierFatal 10-25 0132 BC-WA--Mount Rainier Fatal,120< One dead in avalanche on Mount Rainier< bcastfontk-o< ASHFORD, Wash. (AP) -- One climber died in an avalanche on Mount Rainier and a companion survived, an official said early Monday. A Mount Rainier National Park employee who would not identify himself said authorities were alerted by the companion, who also was caught by the slide about 1 p.m. PST Sunday but managed to dig himself free and seek help. The survivor told park rangers about 5 p.m. the avalanche caught the pair about 11,000 feet up the 14,411-foot mountain and east of Camp Muir, a widely used base camp by climbers on their way to the summit. Rangers hope to use a helicopter to retrieve the body later Monday, the park employee said. (Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APTV 10-25-04 0657PDT<

Hey guys. Just wanted to let you know there was an avalanche on Mt Rainier on Sunday afternoon. I don't have any details about exactly where it happened yet, but I do know that a pair of climbers were caught in it. One was able to dig out and call for help, but the other one is still unaccounted for. A rescue operation is launching at first light on Monday morning from Longmire. If I get more details, I will try to provide them. Be careful out there.

Was he ever located? Is he okay?

His identity has not been officially released so I am unable to give you the name, but as soon as the name is released, we will update our web coverage.

We asked lead climbing ranger, Mike Gautier about this and he said that the park never denies permits to or closes a particular route. They say climbing is an inherently dangerous sport and if they close a route, then in instances that it is open, climbers might assume there is no danger or risk...and there is always a risk. So there's your answer.

Oops. Correction. 1 man was from Montana and the other was a North Cascades ranger. They were climbing together and evidence suggests they may have been hit by an avalanche.

Mt Rainier Climbing Rangers have confirmed that the 2 Montana gentlemen who were unaccounted for on Liberty Ridge have been confirmed deceased. One body has been recovered, the other body is still missing and presumed dead. They are now trying to find the body. As for the second pair of climbers who called 911 requesting assisting climbing out, they appear to be in good condition and are awaiting assistance from the Park Rangers as soon as they get some folks freed up from the first incident.

[quote Have they ever just closed a route? This many accidents in so little time is going to draw lots of negative attention. That is an excellent question. The next media briefing is at 7:45am PDT. I'll try to get in touch with my crew to see if they can ask that question.

More trouble on Mount Rainier 10:52 PM PDT on Thursday, June 17, 2004 By KARIN CZULIK / KING5.com KING Mount Rainier's northside is notorious for difficult and dangerous routes. PARADISE, Wash. – Two separate climbing parties on Washington's Mount Rainier were in trouble Thursday evening. Both emergencies are taking place on and near Liberty Ridge – the place where two other climbers have died within the last month. Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman Patti Wold confirmed that one climbing party is missing and another called 911 from Liberty Ridge. On June 11, two climbers from Montana headed up the Liberty Ridge route. They were expected to come back from their climb Monday. When they did not return, a search-and-rescue was called for the two overdue Missoula, Mont., men in their 20s. Rangers in a helicopter searching around noon Thursday spotted a motionless body facedown at the 9,000-foot level on Carbon Glacier, on the 14,411-foot peak's north side. The climber was believed to have taken a fall. There was no sign of the other climber. Rangers were unable to reach the body Thursday, but planned to fly to the site early Friday to check the body and search for the missing man. Two climbing rangers have been dispatched via helicopter to Curtis Ridge, from where they will begin their search Friday morning. Resources Who pays for rescues? In a separate incident, two climbers called by cell phone saying they were stuck on Liberty Ridge. They have food and are healthy at this time. Park officials say there was bad weather on the mountain during the weekend, with 100 mile-per-hour winds at the mountain's high camps and extensive snowfall.

I can't say if our presence blows snow around, but I can say that our helicopter is a good distance away from any climbing rescue scene. We have an amazing zoom lens and can be up to 5 miles away from an incident and still get pretty good pics of the scene. So if I hd to guerss, I'd say that it is NOT our helicopter blowing snow, but rather conditions themselves...but I could be wrong... We try to stay out of the way and we certainly try not to make conditions worse than they already are!

I will pass your comments along, but they carry much more weight if everyone who has a complaint sends an individual e-mail to us to complain about the policy. The web folks and Station Manager are monitoring how many e-mails they get about this and based on that, they could decide to revise the policy. You can send an e-mail to newstips@king5.com and it will get forwarded to the folks who make the decisions about the website registation process...

http://www.king5.com/ Live video of our helicopter at the top of the homepage.

Scott was airlifted off the mountain this morning just before 10am. He was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.

Thanks for the corrections. I have nothing to do with the website, but I have called them to alert them of the errors. Still trying to find the video stream online so I can give you the addy...

Chinook Helicopter circling the area right now trying to make the pickup. Live pics being streamed on king5.com.

The climbing rangers reached them at 12:05p today. Still waiting to hear how long it'll be til they come down from on high...

The rescue has been delayed yet again by inclement weather. The 2 climbing rangers who are heading towards them have encountered some pretty bad conditions and that haws slowed their progress significantly. Their new estimate of when they will reach Peter and Scott is around 2pm on Monday. The Chinook that the OR Nat'l Guard sent to the rescue efforts tried to make a rescue once today but had to abort due to weather conditions. Nat'l weather service says it doesn't look likely that conditions will improve enough today to make another attempt by air.

8p update (GOOD NEWS!) A rescue helicopter launched after there was a slight break in the weather. The onboard crew saw the climbers on the side of the mountain. They saw their tent pitched. Scott came out and waved at the helicopter The helicopter dropped a couple of survival packs with supplies (sleeping bag, food, water, gatorade, radio so they can communicate with rescuers, etc). The helicopter was not able to attempt a rescue so the plan is still for the ground crews to climb in and rescue them on Monday morning.

They've had yet another delay in getting rescue climbers to the injured climber and his partner. It now looks like they won't meet up until early Monday morning at the earliest. Fortunately, they (the injured climber and his partner) were prepared for overnighting and seem to have adequate supplies for now.