Body of missing skier recovered at Mount Rainier National Park

The body of a skier who went missing nearly than a month ago at Mount Rainier National Park was found by park rangers, authorities said.

According to a news release from the National Park Service, rangers found the woman’s body at the base of Pebble Creek’s Moraine Falls above the Paradise area at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state.

Rangers have not released the victim’s name or age.

Authorities had been searching for the skier since she went missing on May 19, USA Today reported. The woman had set out on a skiing tour above the Paradise area the day before, according to the newspaper.

Rangers using a contract helicopter staged reconnaissance flights during “a window of favorable weather,” the NPS release stated. They located an unresponsive person who officials believe fell approximately 200 feet to the base of a waterfall.

The area was surrounded by “a large, unstable snow moat” that was subject to rock and ice fall and that caused an immediate risk to recovery teams, the NPS said.

When the weather became favorable again, rangers used crevasse recuse techniques, using rope to lower themselves to the area where the woman’s body was found.

The body was transported by helicopter Kautz Creek Helibase for evaluation by the Pierce County Medical Examiner, USA Today reported. The medical examiner will determine the woman’s official cause and manner of death, according to the newspaper.

Mount Rainier is an active volcano that rises more than 14,410 feet above sea level.

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