Crews were searching Friday for a hiker who went missing while climbing down Mount Rainier in Washington state, according to the National Park Service.
The climber, Kyle Bufis, 25, was separated from two other people on Thursday while they were at 14,000 feet elevation near Liberty Saddle on the north side of the mountain in the midst of high winds and low visibility, the National Park Service said in a statement. The two climbers who were with Bufis, Derek Gavelis and Mathew Wiech, “are tired but in good condition,” the National Park Service said in a later statement.
Bufis was reported missing at 5:10 a.m. Friday (8:10 a.m. ET), according to the National Park Service.
A U.S. Army Reserve 214th Air Division Chinook helicopter and another aircraft have been deployed in the search for Bufis, and 26 park personnel are assigned to the search, according to the park service.
The Chinook will attempt to drop rangers on the ground in the search area, but winds up to 70 mph could cause problems, the statement said.
A temporary flight restriction has been put in place in the area of the search, according to the National Park Service.
