A climber and a snowshoer were rescued Monday from Mount Rainier after becoming stranded at upper elevations in separate incidents over the weekend. A second climber reportedly died, however, and must remain for at least another day on one of the mountain's upper slopes while authorities wait for better conditions in which to remove his body. Mount Rainier National Park officials reported a 41-year-old Canadian woman and a 26-year-old man from Lacey were in stable condition at Camp Muir on the mountain's slope after being caught overnight in a winter storm Saturday. They were airlifted to safety Monday. Their names weren't immediately released. Officials said a second person in the affected climbing party, a 58-year-old man from Norway, is believed to be near Gibraltar Ledges and apparently is deceased. An unresponsive body was located in the area Monday afternoon by air rescuers who were prevented by unfavorable weather conditions from reaching him. Air and ground teams hoped to reach the body by midday Tuesday, but high and erractic wind on the upper mountain forced the recovery to be postponed, officials said. A spokeswoman for the park said another recovery attempt will be staged "as weather permits." The two-person climbing party left Paradise on March 24 in an attempt to reach the mountain's peak via the Gibraltar Ledges route. Their permit indicated that they overnighted at Camp Muir the night of March 25 and were to begin their summit climb the next morning. Private parties at Camp Muir reported overnight gear left there all day when no one returned to use it the night of March 26. Park officials initiated search operations in the morning March 27. That afternoon, one member of the climbing party, the Canadian woman, was seen descending from the Gibraltar Ledges route to Camp Muir. Several individuals helped her back to Muir's shelter. In a second, unrelated incident, a spot locator beacon began signaling on the Muir Snowfield the night of March 26 and continued through the night. The beacon belonged to a solo snowshoer from Lacey who eventually made it to Camp Muir the next day. An Army Chinook helicopter from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, with two park climbing rangers aboard, tried to reach the people Sunday at Camp Muir but was turned away by bad weather. The mission resumed Monday. The snowshoer was treated at Madigan Army Medical Center for undisclosed medical issues and was released, officials said. A winter storm hit the mountain Saturday at approximately 6 p.m., subjecting the climbers and snowshoer to blowing snow with temperatures in the single digits. Members of the Seattle, Olympic, Tacoma and Everett mountain rescue teams, the volunteer Nordic Patrol, Army Reserve B Company of the 1-214th Air Battalion, and Northwest Helicopters assisted in Monday's rescue efforts.
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