ranier fatality

http://www.startribune.com/body-of-c...ier/307281511/


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.
Kyle Bufis graduated from Maple Grove High School in 2008 and soon headed west and landed in Alamosa, Colo., where he enrolled in Adams State University. He graduated in 2013 with a degree in Earth sciences, his father said.
He discovered his passion for climbing and the outdoors there, and he was trained as a climbing instructor and in wilderness first aid, Jeff Bufis said.
“He was extremely well trained,” his father said.
After college, Kyle Bufis first worked for Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, which took urban youth on wilderness trips. For the past year, after moving to Utah, he led youth groups on trips for Expedition Therapy Associates, his father said.