News
CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN, Wash. — Two men who walked 20 miles overnight after becoming lost at the Crystal Mountain ski resort near Mount Rainier National Park found a campground with a pay phone Friday morning and called a girlfriend, collect.
Pierce County searchers who had been looking for the men picked them up by helicopter and found they were in good condition.
Search and Rescue Commander Cynthia Fajardo said they are very lucky.
"We're so happy this turned out to be a good ending and it has to do with their physical fitness," she said. "But it's not a good idea to go out of bounds. It's just not worth the risk."
The 27-year-old men from Seattle — one skier, one snowboarder — were a little sheepish for causing the search but told KING-TV they never worried and figured they'd get somewhere safe.
The station identified them as Taylor Cameron and Jason Mielcavek and said they were originally from Vermont.
"Thank everyone, for looking for us," Mielcavek said. "They did their job well."
The men said they became lost Thursday afternoon and encountered a motorist on Highway 410 near Chinook Pass. The driver was turning around because the pass is closed for the winter by snow.
The person told them they were about five miles from the ski resort. They thought they could walk back but got turned around in the dark.
One of the men's girlfriends reported them overdue Thursday night. The Ski Patrol found their car in a parking lot. Searchers followed tracks that headed east through an out-of-bounds area. An air search began at daylight Friday with a plane and helicopter.
The men were well outside the search area when they turned up at the Ohanapecosh campground in the southeast corner of the national park.
A spokeswoman for Crystal Mountain, Justus Hyatt, said a lot of people use the resort to access the backcountry, and they should always tell someone where they're going.
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Information from: KING-TV, http://www.king5.com/
Pierce County searchers who had been looking for the men picked them up by helicopter and found they were in good condition.
Search and Rescue Commander Cynthia Fajardo said they are very lucky.
"We're so happy this turned out to be a good ending and it has to do with their physical fitness," she said. "But it's not a good idea to go out of bounds. It's just not worth the risk."
The 27-year-old men from Seattle — one skier, one snowboarder — were a little sheepish for causing the search but told KING-TV they never worried and figured they'd get somewhere safe.
The station identified them as Taylor Cameron and Jason Mielcavek and said they were originally from Vermont.
"Thank everyone, for looking for us," Mielcavek said. "They did their job well."
The men said they became lost Thursday afternoon and encountered a motorist on Highway 410 near Chinook Pass. The driver was turning around because the pass is closed for the winter by snow.
The person told them they were about five miles from the ski resort. They thought they could walk back but got turned around in the dark.
One of the men's girlfriends reported them overdue Thursday night. The Ski Patrol found their car in a parking lot. Searchers followed tracks that headed east through an out-of-bounds area. An air search began at daylight Friday with a plane and helicopter.
The men were well outside the search area when they turned up at the Ohanapecosh campground in the southeast corner of the national park.
A spokeswoman for Crystal Mountain, Justus Hyatt, said a lot of people use the resort to access the backcountry, and they should always tell someone where they're going.
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Information from: KING-TV, http://www.king5.com/
