Searchers on Mount Rainier on Saturday recovered the body of a missing climber believed to be Kyle Bufis, formerly of Maple Grove, who perished in a harsh storm after reaching the summit two days earlier.
Patricia Wold, spokeswoman for Mount Rainier National Park, said the body matches the description of Bufis, but that a medical examiner will need to confirm the identity. The park is 60 miles southeast of Tacoma, Wash.
Bufis, 25, who resided in Springdale, Utah, and two other climbers got caught in high winds and whiteout conditions late Thursday as they descended via the challenging Liberty Ridge route on the north flank of Mount Rainier, said his father, Jeff Bufis of Maple Grove.
The three men hunkered down in a crevasse, only to discover their cook stove had been left at another stop about 50 meters up the mountain, Jeff Bufis said, based on information gleaned from others.
"Kyle volunteered to go get it," he added. "That was the last time they saw him."
The two other climbers, Derek Gavelis and Mathew Wiech, managed to send a text for help and descend on their own to a base camp late Friday. Both were tired but in good physical condition, Wold said.
Searchers on Friday encountered high winds that stymied their efforts, Jeff Bufis said. The young man's body was discovered, and later retrieved, on Saturday, his father added.
Two helicopters conducted the search, one of which looked for signals from an avalanche beacon that they believed Bufis was carrying. Weather conditions were favorable for search efforts throughout Saturday, Wold said.
