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DEM #99-1365 June 22, 1999 |
The Unit was contacted by the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management on Tuesday, June 22, at 6:00 p.m.. For the second time in as many months Mt. Rainier National Park had requested 12 Mountain Rescue volunteers to help in the search for a lost snowboarder on the Muir snow field.
William "Tres" Teitjen, 28, was last seen about 5:30 p.m. Sunday as he changed into dry cold weather clothes in the public shelter at Camp Muir. He was planning to snowboard down to the Paradise Parking lot and he left the high camp in a whiteout. Tres had never been to Camp Muir or the Park before, and though he had some experience in snow and ice he had never been in the Cascades before. Also he had never back country snow boarded before; all his experience was at ski resorts. He was not reported missing until Monday night when he failed to show up for a meeting with his father.
Seven members responded to the call-out: Chris Berryman, Scott Nicholson, Mike Mixon, Ken Capron, Marcus Collins, David Burdick and Rob Penny. The rest of the team was filled out by Mountain Rescue members from Olympic and Skagit Mountain Rescue Teams. They were told to report to the Cache at 4:40 a.m. or to the Longmire Ranger Station at 6:30 a.m.
After a briefing by Park Rangers they split into two teams: Team One was Chris Berryman, Rob Penny and Scott Nicholson. Team Two was Mike Mixon, Marcus Collins, Ken Capron and David Burdick.
Team One was driven to the Nisqually River bridge and then followed the river up the moraine to the Nisqually Glacier. After reaching the glacier they roped up and continued up to Glacier Vista at 6500 feet and then down to Alta Vista to the Paradise parking lot. Team Two left from the Paradise parking lot and went up through Alta Vista to Panorama Point to around 7000 feet. They then searched down to the Golden Gate, into the Edith Creek Basin and back to the parking lot. They were then sent back out to search the Mazama Ridge and down to the Paradise Cliffs. While searching around the cliffs Mike Mixon fell into one of the hazards of hiking in spring snow: a moat around a boulder; he was unhurt though rather muddy from the experience. No sign of the subject was found by either team. The Unit was released at 6:00 p.m. The rangers stated that if the weather clears on the weekend they may request us again
Tacoma Mountain Rescue |
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