The search for two men missing on Mount Rainier was scheduled to resume at first daylight Tuesday. teams will renew their efforts at first light tomorrow morning. Searchers believe they saw the men Monday but were unable to reach them before nightfall and bad weather forced an overnight end to the effort. According to Mount Rainier National Park officials, Derek Tyndall, 21, and Thomas Dale, 20, called 9-1-1 at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday to report that they had become lost in a winter storm while descending from Camp Muir on a snowboarding outing. They had winter gear, phones and a compass, but no overnight gear. The two checked in by cell phone Monday morning and reported that they had made a snow cave for the night and were cold but in good condition. The weather overnight was severe, with high winds and 20 inches of fresh snow at Paradise. At about 3 o'clock Monday afternoon, one of the search teams made brief visual contact, from a distance of about half a mile, with two individuals who apparently were Tyndall and and seemed to be in good condition on the lower Paradise Glacier. Due to the steep terrain, it took several hours for the search teams to circle around to the location, and deep, fresh snow slowed progress, officials said. The search was called off for the day at about 7 p.m. as night, weather, low visibility, increasing avalanche danger, and dangerous terrain made continued efforts dangerous and unproductive, officials reported.
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