Crime & Safety

Woman Rescued in Snoqualmie Avalanche Dies; Search for Second Victim Suspended

King County Sheriff's deputies said the search for a missing man swept away in an avalanche was called off Sunday as heavy snow fell in the Cascade Mountains.

One woman is dead and another man missing after two avalanches in the Snoqualmie Pass area Saturday buried over a dozen hikers and a spring snowstorm hampered rescue efforts.

According to King County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Katie Larson, at about 12:49 p.m., three men hiking to the summit at Granite Mountain off of I-90 at exit 47 were swept away by an avalanche. One of the hikers said they had no warning, that the snow began to move beneath him and he and his friends were swept down the mountain. Two of the three hikers were able to self-rescue and call for help, and other hikers in the area began searching for the missing third hiker to no avail.

King County Sheriff’s Officer Search-and-Rescue responded assisted by numerous other agencies — including Seattle Mountain Rescue, which is based in Issaquah. The search was called off just before dark due to poor visibility and increasingly hazardous weather conditions.

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The missing man is a 60-year-old experienced hiker from Kent.

The search has been suspended indefinitely due to the poor weather conditions.

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A second avalanche happened shortly after the first one on Red Mountain, off I-90 at exit 52. A group of a dozen hikers from Sammamish, according to King5 News, were caught in an avalanche while they were snowshoeing and separated the group.

All were able to self-rescue with the exception of one woman who was not part of the group, but was seen walking nearby. Following the avalanche, the group realized the woman was missing and began searching for her. They found her about 45 minutes later and dug her out of approximately 5 feet of snow. The woman was not moving and was somewhat conscious.

Search-and-Rescue teams hiked over two hours to reach the group. The victim was loaded on a sled and rescuers hiked her out through blizzard like conditions.

Medics at a base camp location later confirmed that the woman had died. KCSO Sgt. Larson said identification of the woman is unknown at this time. She said as many as 100 SAR volunteers and numerous K-9 teams were used in yesterday’s searches.

Todd Stone, a spokesman for Seattle Mountain Rescue, said the man still missing on Granite Mountain was reportedly not wearing an avalanche beacon to alert rescuers to his location, but they used homing transceivers to try and find him anyway.

"We did everything we could in the deteriorating conditions — there was an additional avalanche hazard on top of the bad weather," he said. "Be aware of the avalanche hazards and your route selection, and by all means if you're in avalanche terrain, you should be avalanche trained and have a shovel, avalanche transceiver/beacon and a probe."

The King County medical examiner will perform an autopsy and release her identity tomorrow pending notification of family members.

(Ed. Note: Part of the information above was gathered from a King County Sheriff's Office news release.)


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