Report: Search called off indefinitely for hiker missing in avalanche near Snoqualmie Pass
Apr 16, 2013, 7:29 AM | Updated: 10:01 am
The search for a missing hiker has been called off indefinitely due to dangerous conditions, according to reports.
According to The Seattle Times, crews have called off the search for Mitch Hungate, 61, for what will likely be several days.
Authorities with the King County Sheriff’s Office say conditions are too dangerous for Search and Rescue personnel.
The first avalanche hit Hungate’s group of three experienced hikers trying to reach the summit of Granite Mountain off of I-90 at exit 47, on Saturday.
Sgt. Katie Larson, with the sheriff’s office, said the hikers were about five feet apart from each other and didn’t see any signs of the avalanche until the snow was already giving way beneath their feet. By downloading information from one hiker’s GPS tracking device, Larson said they determined that hiker was swept 1,279 feet, reaching a speed of 53 miles per hour.
“It came out of nowhere and swept them away very quickly,” said Larson.
In a second avalanche, a group of a dozen snowshoers who were also caught up in the avalanche dug Joy Yu, 55, out of five feet of snow and tried to keep her warm.
It took rescuers hours to carry her on a sled down the mountain, where she was pronounced dead.
Hikers found Yu’s dog, 8-year-old Blue, on Sunday. The animal is now back with Yu’s relatives, said Cindi West with the King County Sheriff’s Office.
Yu had been snowshoeing with her dog when she was caught in the avalanche on Red Mountain. The examiner’s report said Yu suffocated under the snow.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
