Four mountain climbers and two guides escorting them to the summit of Mt. Rainier are presumed dead after searchers found a trail of scattered equipment on Saturday, an official said.
Gary Harrington, operations director for Alpine Ascents International, which was leading the expedition, told the Los Angeles Times that families of the six were traveling from around the country to Seattle on Saturday night. The names of the climbers were not immediately released.
Rescuers flew over the glaciers of Mt. Rainier National Park on Saturday morning and early afternoon looking for the climbing group, which was heard from on Wednesday night.
The searchers could see camping and climbing gear on Carbon Glacier about 9,500 feet up the 14,400-foot mountain, the fifth-tallest mountain in the Lower 48. As they got closer, authorities picked up pings from emergency beacons apparently buried in the snow. By late afternoon, park officials told reporters that they believed there was no chance of survival.
Harrington said the company agreed with the assessment. Just what happened to the climbers remained unclear.
Nearly 11,000 people attempted to scale Mt. Rainier in 2013, and in most years about half of those who try reach the top, according to National Park Service statistics. Forty rescue operations were required last year.
Since 1897, at least 89 people have died on Mt. Rainier during summit climbs, according to the park service. In 1981, 11 climbers were killed after being buried under giant chunks of ice in what's widely regarded as the worst climbing accident in U.S. history. Since then, an average of one death has been recorded each year on Mt. Rainier.
"This mountain and Carbon Glacier is very dynamic, with continuous rockfall and ice fall," a park spokeswoman told KOMO-TV. "No one is immune to that, no matter how skilled you are."
About 200 people were on the mountain about this time last year, which is considered early in the climbing season. Some of the climbs on Mt. Rainier can be completed in a few hours, though most people take two or three days to reach the summit.
The climbers at the center of Saturday’s search were reported missing Friday evening, when they didn't return on schedule. They were attempting the Liberty Ridge route, one of the toughest and deadliest ways up the mountain.
Last week the park service reported the Liberty Ridge route as being in good condition with soft snow on the ground during the day. Snow flurries passed through the national park late Wednesday.
The climbers were at nearly 13,000 feet on Wednesday night when they radioed in to the offices of the Seattle-based guide company, which is one of three that operate on Mt. Rainier.
Five Sherpas from Alpine Ascents were among the 16 people killed in April on Mt. Everest in the Himalayas. They were struck by an avalanche in what is believed to be the deadliest accident on the world's highest mountain.
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