By Pat Jenkins The Dispatch Mount Rainier National Park officials say it takes a virtual mini-army to carry out rescues of missing or stranded climbers. And the past few weeks have been proof of that. The park has logged six search-and-sescues and three helicopter rescues in the first three weeks of the summer climbing season. In the most recent incident, two climbers were rescued by a National Park Service helicopter on June 28 after one of them became ill. The 23-year-old was part of a team that departed Camp Schurman via the Emmons Glacier route before midnight the summit. After its attempt to reach the peak, the team descended to an elevation of 11,500 feet, where the climber reported having trouble breathing and had to stop. The rest of his group continued down to Camp Schurman at 9,450 feet, where they alerted park rangers via an emergency radio. Climbing rangers were flown by helicopter to a few hundred feet below the stranded climber and airlifted him in a short-haul maneuver GÇô a technique in which a rescuer and patient are suspended on a line below the helicopter GÇô to a landing zone inside the park where they could safely climb inside the aircraft. The sick climber was then taken by ambulance to a hospital. Information on his condition wasn't released. In two other major incidents: " On June 10, two climbers were evacuated from the summit after they became disoriented and spent shree nights in hazardous conditions after using a locator beacon to signal for help. " And on June 19, another pair of climbers was rescued from unstable slopes at the 13,000-feet level after climbing into a storrm two days earler Randy King, the park's superintendent, said assistance from Army Reserve helicopters and Army and Air Force crews and "our many volunteer rescue organizations, improves outcomes and rescuer safety.GÇ¥ "It takes a large team of dedicated (park) employees, partners and volunteers" to execute the approximately 50 search-and-rescues GÇô most of them ground-based GÇô in the park each year, King added.
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