Mount Rainier National Park rangers were struggling Friday against winds predicted to reach 70 mph on the north flanks of Mount Rainier to find a climber who got separated from his two partners in poor visibility.
The park received word of the missing climber shortly after 5 a.m. The climber, who was not identified, went missing above 14,000 feet in the vicinity of Liberty Saddle on Liberty Ridge.
The initial search involved an air reconnaissance with a US Army Reserve 214th Air Division Chinook helicopter out of Joint Base Lewis McChord with park rangers on board. The Chinook was to attempt a summit landing to offload rangers to search the area.
In May 2014 an avalanche on Liberty Ridge killed three climbers.
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