Body of missing skier recovered at Mt. Rainier National Park

ASHFORD, Wash. - A team of park rangers recently recovered the body of a woman who went missing while on a ski tour in Mount Rainier National Park.

The woman was found above Paradise, at the base of Pebble Creek’s Moraine Falls, according to the National Park Service (NPS).

The search effort began on May 19 when park rangers received a report of an overdue skier. She was last heard from on May 18 before setting out on a ski tour.

Several climbing rangers, volunteers, and ground teams searched the surrounding area of Paradise, and the park's contract helicopter eventually located the woman while on a reconnaissance flight during a window of favorable weather.

The NPS says she appeared to have fallen 200 feet to the base of Moraine Falls. The area was surrounded by a large, unstable snow moat that posed safety risks to recovery teams.

During another period of favorable weather, rangers completed the recovery using "traditional crevasse rescue methods," and the body was transported to Kautz Creek Helibase for evaluation by the Pierce County Medical Examiner.

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