With the weather clearing, 26 rescuers Saturday scoured Washington’s Mount Rainier for four overdue climbers and campers, including an Atlanta woman.
Michelle Trojanowski, 30, of Atlanta and Mark Vucich, 37, of San Diego, had set out to camp on the Muir Snowfield at the 10,000-foot level and were due back a week ago, but did not return.
Meanwhile, a pair of climbers – a couple from Springfield, Ore., who have not been identified – were due back Monday from an attempt to reach the summit of the 14,410-foot mountain and also were overdue.
Mount Rainier is about 70 miles southeast of Seattle.
Mount Rainier spokeswoman Patti Wold said Saturday that avalanche conditions subsided, allowing the teams to span out to five different spots.
Wold said a helicopter remained on standby at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, waiting for flying conditions to improve.
Rangers say the two parties were well-equipped and hopefully have dug in to wait out the storm, but they could be getting low on supplies. The two parties began their trips nearly 10 days ago.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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