SEATTLE (AP) - Whiteout conditions on Mount Rainier National Park prevented rangers on Saturday from recovering the body of a colleague who died while rescuing four injured climbers near the mountain's peak.
Crews were hoping for a break in the weather but conditions got worse as the day progressed, said park spokeswoman Brandi Stewart. Crews said the forecast looked better for recovery on Sunday.
A team of four rangers who had begun climbing to the spot where Nick Hall slid 2,600 feet to his death turned back to Camp Schurman. The campsite is at the 9,500-foot level.
The rangers were going to assist with a planned recovery from a helicopter, which remained on standby until the weather allows flying conditions.
Once Hall's body is off the mountain it will be taken with an escort to the Pierce County Medical Examiners office.
Hall died after falling on Thursday while helping four climbers from Texas who were stranded near the 14,411-foot mountain's peak.
Three of those climbers are in the hospital while the fourth managed to hike off the mountain Friday.
Park spokeswoman Patti Wold identified the rescued climbers as Stuart Smith, Noelle Smith, Ross Vandyke and Stacy Wren.
The climbers were bruised with possible broken bones, park spokesman Kevin Bacher said earlier. Three are listed in stable condition at Madigan Army Hospital.
Hall had helped put three climbers into a helicopter when he fell.
Hall, a four-year veteran of the park's climbing program, came from a family of EMTs who aided soldiers in Iraq and car crash victims in his small hometown of Patten, Maine. He was not married and had no children.
His father, Carter Hall, recalled his son as a loner when he was a child, but flourished in high school through a shared love of the wilderness.
"For good and bad, it was my influence of the outdoors," Hall told The Associated Press in a call from his Maine home, his voice breaking.
The last time a climbing ranger was killed was 1995, when two rangers died after falling 1,200 feet during a glacier rescue.
Hall's family said they were proud of his involvement in mountain rescues, and hoped that his death will draw attention to the profession's dangers.
Nick Hall had worked as an avalanche forecaster at Yellowstone National Park and as an emergency medical responder for the ski patrol at Washington's Stevens Pass Ski Area, his father said.
When he spoke to him about risks, Carter Hall said, his son responded that dying by heart attack "was also a risk in life."
About 10,000 climbers attempt to reach the summit of the volcano about 85 miles southeast of Seattle each year and about half make it, he said.
SEATTLE - Thwarted by continuing stormy weather, National Park rangers will have to wait at least until Sunday to recover the body of a colleague who died while rescuing four injured climbers, officials said.
Park spokesman Kevin Bacher initially said officials were hopeful that the weather would break enough on Saturday to retrieve the body of fallen ranger Nick Hall. A helicopter was placed on standby should the weather break enough for a flight.
But continuing stormy weather disrupted those plans, and the recovery was cancelled for one more day. Conditions will be re-evaluated on Sunday.
Bacher says four rangers are also climbing toward the spot where Nick Hall's body came to a rest following a 2,600-foot slide. Hall died after falling 2,600 feet on Thursday while helping four climbers from Texas who were stranded near the 14,411-foot mountain's peak.
Three of those climbers are in the hospital while the fourth managed to hike off the mountain Friday.
Stormy weather moved in to the Puget Sound region Friday, and eight National Park rangers spent the night on Mount Rainier as they waited out a ground blizzard to retrieve Hall's body.
As stormy weather continued Saturday, rangers continued to wait it out.
Once the ranger's body is off the mountain it will be taken with an escort to the Pierce County Medical Examiners office.
Park spokeswoman Patti Wold identified the rescued climbers as Stuart Smith, Noelle Smith, Ross Vandyke and Stacy Wren.
The climbers were bruised with possible broken bones, park spokesman Kevin Bacher said earlier. Three are listed in stable condition at Madigan Army Hospital.
Hall had helped put three climbers into a helicopter when he fell.
Hall, a four-year veteran of the park's climbing program, came from a family of EMTs who aided soldiers in Iraq and car crash victims in his small hometown of Patten, Maine. He was not married and had no children.
His father, Carter Hall, recalled his son as a loner when he was a child, but flourished in high school through a shared love of the wilderness.
"For good and bad, it was my influence of the outdoors," Hall told The Associated Press in a call from his Maine home, his voice breaking.
The last time a climbing ranger was killed was 1995, when two rangers died after falling 1,200 feet during a glacier rescue.
Hall's family said they were proud of his involvement in mountain rescues, and hoped that his death will draw attention to the profession's dangers.
Nick Hall had worked as an avalanche forecaster at Yellowstone National Park and as an emergency medical responder for the ski patrol at Washington's Stevens Pass Ski Area, his father said.
When he spoke to him about risks, Carter Hall said, his son responded that dying by heart attack "was also a risk in life."
About 10,000 climbers attempt to reach the summit of the volcano about 85 miles southeast of Seattle each year and about half make it, he said.
Crews were hoping for a break in the weather but conditions got worse as the day progressed, said park spokeswoman Brandi Stewart. Crews said the forecast looked better for recovery on Sunday.
A team of four rangers who had begun climbing to the spot where Nick Hall slid 2,600 feet to his death turned back to Camp Schurman. The campsite is at the 9,500-foot level.
The rangers were going to assist with a planned recovery from a helicopter, which remained on standby until the weather allows flying conditions.
Once Hall's body is off the mountain it will be taken with an escort to the Pierce County Medical Examiners office.
Hall died after falling on Thursday while helping four climbers from Texas who were stranded near the 14,411-foot mountain's peak.
Three of those climbers are in the hospital while the fourth managed to hike off the mountain Friday.
Park spokeswoman Patti Wold identified the rescued climbers as Stuart Smith, Noelle Smith, Ross Vandyke and Stacy Wren.
The climbers were bruised with possible broken bones, park spokesman Kevin Bacher said earlier. Three are listed in stable condition at Madigan Army Hospital.
Hall had helped put three climbers into a helicopter when he fell.
Hall, a four-year veteran of the park's climbing program, came from a family of EMTs who aided soldiers in Iraq and car crash victims in his small hometown of Patten, Maine. He was not married and had no children.
His father, Carter Hall, recalled his son as a loner when he was a child, but flourished in high school through a shared love of the wilderness.
"For good and bad, it was my influence of the outdoors," Hall told The Associated Press in a call from his Maine home, his voice breaking.
The last time a climbing ranger was killed was 1995, when two rangers died after falling 1,200 feet during a glacier rescue.
Hall's family said they were proud of his involvement in mountain rescues, and hoped that his death will draw attention to the profession's dangers.
Nick Hall had worked as an avalanche forecaster at Yellowstone National Park and as an emergency medical responder for the ski patrol at Washington's Stevens Pass Ski Area, his father said.
When he spoke to him about risks, Carter Hall said, his son responded that dying by heart attack "was also a risk in life."
About 10,000 climbers attempt to reach the summit of the volcano about 85 miles southeast of Seattle each year and about half make it, he said.
SEATTLE - Thwarted by continuing stormy weather, National Park rangers will have to wait at least until Sunday to recover the body of a colleague who died while rescuing four injured climbers, officials said.
Park spokesman Kevin Bacher initially said officials were hopeful that the weather would break enough on Saturday to retrieve the body of fallen ranger Nick Hall. A helicopter was placed on standby should the weather break enough for a flight.
But continuing stormy weather disrupted those plans, and the recovery was cancelled for one more day. Conditions will be re-evaluated on Sunday.
Bacher says four rangers are also climbing toward the spot where Nick Hall's body came to a rest following a 2,600-foot slide. Hall died after falling 2,600 feet on Thursday while helping four climbers from Texas who were stranded near the 14,411-foot mountain's peak.
Three of those climbers are in the hospital while the fourth managed to hike off the mountain Friday.
Stormy weather moved in to the Puget Sound region Friday, and eight National Park rangers spent the night on Mount Rainier as they waited out a ground blizzard to retrieve Hall's body.
As stormy weather continued Saturday, rangers continued to wait it out.
Once the ranger's body is off the mountain it will be taken with an escort to the Pierce County Medical Examiners office.
Park spokeswoman Patti Wold identified the rescued climbers as Stuart Smith, Noelle Smith, Ross Vandyke and Stacy Wren.
The climbers were bruised with possible broken bones, park spokesman Kevin Bacher said earlier. Three are listed in stable condition at Madigan Army Hospital.
Hall had helped put three climbers into a helicopter when he fell.
Hall, a four-year veteran of the park's climbing program, came from a family of EMTs who aided soldiers in Iraq and car crash victims in his small hometown of Patten, Maine. He was not married and had no children.
His father, Carter Hall, recalled his son as a loner when he was a child, but flourished in high school through a shared love of the wilderness.
"For good and bad, it was my influence of the outdoors," Hall told The Associated Press in a call from his Maine home, his voice breaking.
The last time a climbing ranger was killed was 1995, when two rangers died after falling 1,200 feet during a glacier rescue.
Hall's family said they were proud of his involvement in mountain rescues, and hoped that his death will draw attention to the profession's dangers.
Nick Hall had worked as an avalanche forecaster at Yellowstone National Park and as an emergency medical responder for the ski patrol at Washington's Stevens Pass Ski Area, his father said.
When he spoke to him about risks, Carter Hall said, his son responded that dying by heart attack "was also a risk in life."
About 10,000 climbers attempt to reach the summit of the volcano about 85 miles southeast of Seattle each year and about half make it, he said.