2 Dead in Snoqualmie Pass Avalanche

[Hugh Conway]

http://www.kirotv.com/news/14771616/detail.html

 

Two of three people who went on a hike in the Cascades over the weekend were found dead on Tuesday. A third hiker survived, officials told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.

 

A Bellevue couple and a friend -- all in their 30s -- were hiking on Saturday when an avalanche buried them, officials told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Alison Grande.

 

One man was able to dig himself out, but he couldn't find his wife and his friend. He crawled to his tent, where searchers found him Tuesday morning.

 

Officials said the survivor was hoisted from the area by an Army helicopter and taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle early Tuesday afternoon.

 

Video from KIRO 7 Eyewitness News showed the man, who was conscious and alert, being taken from the Army helicopter after it landed at the hospital.

 

The hikers disappeared near Snow Lake near the Alpental ski area in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area of Snoqualmie Pass, about 50 miles west of Seattle in the Cascade Mountains. The lake is at 4,000 feet elevation.

 

Two feet of new snow fell in the area on Saturday, forecasters said.

 

Four people in another group of missing hikers were located off the Denny Creek trailhead. They left Sunday and the search began on Monday. Their conditions also are unknown.

[Commarin]

A sad yet not uncommon story, it's an avalanche death trap that kills folks nearly every year

[emsung]

and then there's crystal:

 

CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN, Wash. -- Search and rescue teams are looking for three snowboarders who are overdue from a weekend trip to the Crystal Mountain area.

 

The three men, said to all be from Seattle and in their 20s and 30s, were due back Sunday evening, but never returned. They are described as back country snow boarders and were prepared for two nights in the mountains.

 

Search efforts began early Monday, but were hampered by extreme avalanche danger, bad weather, and flooding. Ground searchers were later cleared due to high avalanche danger.

 

Searchers were using helicopters on Tuesday until darkness fell Tuesday night, and the search is expected to resume at daylight Wednesday. Officials say they will insert ground teams into avalanche areas if the snow has stabilized.

 

The names of the three have not been released.

[Argus]

Not sounding good up at Crystal either, granted it's second hand information.

 

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/snowboarding/archives/127206.asp

 

[ericb]

and then there's crystal:

 

CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN, Wash. -- Search and rescue teams are looking for three snowboarders who are overdue from a weekend trip to the Crystal Mountain area.

 

The three men, said to all be from Seattle and in their 20s and 30s, were due back Sunday evening, but never returned. They are described as back country snow boarders and were prepared for two nights in the mountains.

 

Search efforts began early Monday, but were hampered by extreme avalanche danger, bad weather, and flooding. Ground searchers were later cleared due to high avalanche danger.

 

Searchers were using helicopters on Tuesday until darkness fell Tuesday night, and the search is expected to resume at daylight Wednesday. Officials say they will insert ground teams into avalanche areas if the snow has stabilized.

 

The names of the three have not been released.

 

new info on the crystal guys

 

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004054517_webhikers05m.html

 

Two of the missing men were identified by their employer as Phil Hollins and Kevin Carter. The pair failed to show up for work Monday, said Gary Brose, their boss at Seattle's Fleetfoot Messenger Service. The third man was identified as Devlin Williams, a former Fleetfoot employee.