after an avalanche on Mount Rainier sent a mass of snow cascading down a slope early today, burying at least four people.
A national park spokeswoman says an aerial search is under way on the mountain, some 60 miles east of Seattle, for the missing climber and a skier reported in the area who may also be missing.
Several climbing teams were overtaken by the slab avalanche that occurred at the 12,500-foot level.
A helicopter airlifted two injured climbers and six rescuers from the upper mountain this afternoon. The park spokeswoman says those two climbers are hospitalized in stable condition with lacerations and other injuries. A third climber was able to walk down the mountain.
She says the missing person may have been climbing alone.
