Two snowboarders stranded since Sunday on Mount Rainier by a winter storm have been rescued. Searchers found Derek Tyndall, 21, and Thomas Dalle, 20, on Tuesday morning. The search had stopped overnight Monday because of darkness and bad weather. Tyndall and Dalle spent Sunday snowboarding in the area above Paradise at Mount Rainier National Park before they became lost in white-out winter snow conditions while descending from Camp Muir, according to park officials. The men were found Tuesday by one of the search groups in the Upper Stevens Creek drainage. Cold from spending two nights on the mountain, they were being warmed while a way to take them off the mountain is being determined, officials reported. Monday's search effort focused on an area believed to be where the two snowboarders had spent Sunday evening. On late Monday afternoon searcher had a visual of what they believed were the missing snowboarders. Because of difficult terrain and low visibility, they were not able to make contact with these individuals before nightfall. On Tuesday, a larger area of the park was searched by volunteers from the Tacoma, Olympic, and Seattle Mountain Rescue Teams, as well as four dog teams from the Washington Search and Rescue Task Force. Searchers used snowshoes and skis to traverse the terrain. Stefan Lofgren, a park official who headed the, expressed relief that the snowboarders were found alive and apparently well. "The health and safety of not only our two lost subjects but all of our searchers has been and will continue to be our greatest concern today, considering the high avalanche danger and the deep and laborious snow conditions,GÇ¥ Lofgren said.
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