ASHFORD, Wash. (AP) — Two men caught in bad weather high atop Mount Rainer were found by rescuers Monday after they called for help on their cellular phone.
It was the second time in less than a week that park rangers had to save climbers. A man was killed and seven other climbers injured in an avalanche on Thursday.
Park rangers reached Geoffrey McGrath, 33, of Seattle, and Martin Bullard, of the Portland, Ore., area Monday morning and authorities were working through the afternoon to determine the best way to get them off the mountain
McGrath and Bullard reached the mountain’s 14,410-foot summit Sunday along with three other climbers. As they began to descend, they ran into whiteout conditions, said Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman Maria Gillett.
The three others went back to the summit to take shelter by some rocks, but McGrath and Bullard continued down, and one fell into a crevasse at 13,600 feet.
Authorities do not know which man fell. He later freed himself, but by then the two men were very cold and decided to camp overnight.
The conditions of the men were not clear.