Global Courant
Search crews on Mount Rainier have located and recovered the body of a man matching the description of an 80-year-old solo climber who was reported missing last week, Mount Rainier National Park officials said.
Dawes Eddy of Spokane, Washington, began a solo climb on May 30 and was last seen that night ascending the hill on part of the 4,441-foot mountain known as Cathedral Gap, Park officials said Tuesday. in a statement.
He was walking with Rainier for the 50th time to celebrate his birthday, KING-TV reported. He told park officials he was hiking alone and taking the Ingraham Direct route, which the park says is part of the most popular climbing route on the volcano.
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Park rangers were told on Thursday that Eddy had not descended the mountain as expected and began looking for likely climbing routes. Days of searches by helicopter and on the ground along its likely ascent routes by multiple groups were unsuccessful, officials said.
Monday night, two guides from Rainier Mountaineering spotted an unresponsive climber in a crevasse about 11,500 feet on the Ingraham route, officials said. A team of four rangers and a guide recovered the body on Tuesday.
Mount Rainier can be seen on June 28, 2022 in Washington. Dawes Eddy, of Spokane, Washington, who embarked on a solo ascent in Mount Rainier National Park to celebrate his 80th birthday, was found dead in the national park. (Thomas O’Neill/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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The Pierce County medical examiner will identify the climber.
While climbing Mount Rainier in March 1999, Eddy fell over rock walls and tumbled about 600 feet into a gully. He was rescued by other mountaineers and park rangers. A forest ranger at the time said Eddy survived in part due to luck and mild snow conditions.
Mount Rainier is about 50 miles southeast of Seattle.
