Searchers were battling deep snow and frigid temperatures at Rocky Mountain National Park as they looked for a missing Tennessee man/NPS

A search was under way Monday at Rocky Mountain National Park for a Tennessee man missing since last week/NPS

Searchers at Rocky Mountain National Park were dealing Monday with deep snow and frigid temperatures in their hunt for a 70-year-old Tennessean who has been missing since Thursday.

An active search for James Pruitt, of Etowah, Tennessee, got under way Sunday morning. After a vehicle parked at the Glacier Gorge Trailhead was determined to belong to Pruitt, rangers contacted his family in Tennessee. They confirmed he was in the area and hadn’t been heard from since Thursday morning, February 28, at approximately 10 a.m.

Members of Rocky Mountain National Park’s search-and-rescue team went through the Glacier Gorge drainage, the Loch Vale drainage, and the Glacier Creek drainage. Assisting the SAR team were Larimer County Search and Rescue Dog Teams, Diamond Peaks Ski Patrol, and Rocky Mountain Rescue Group. There has been almost two feet of snow accumulation in the Glacier Gorge area since Thursday, park staff said. Monday morning dawned with below-zero temperatures and freezing fog, the National Weather Service reported.

Park rangers would like to hear from anyone who has been in the Glacier Gorge and Bear Lake areas since Thursday, February 28, or who may have had contact with Pruitt regarding his planned route for Thursday. You can call Rocky Mountain National Park at (970) 586-1204.