UPDATE: Four climbers rescued from Mt. Rainier

UPDATE: The climbers were rescued Thursday morning, and a 2:30 p.m. news briefing is planned.

The four climbers were being taken by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The climbers, who were rescued in two groups, were flown off the mountain about 10 a.m. A brief window of good weather allowed the rescue helicopter to land near the summit.

Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman Susan Gregg said all the climbers were discharged Thursday evening.

ORIGINAL TEXT: Search and rescue crews will make another attempt to rescue four climbers who have been stranded on Mount Rainier since Monday.

The team is stranded at 13,500 feet below Liberty Cap, on the north side of Mount Rainier – and the Liberty Ridge route is closed during the rescue efforts.

Liberty Ridge is where a 45-year-old climber died and two other were injured in late May after a rockfall.

On Monday afternoon, Mt. Rainier communications center received the stranded climber report and were told they were unable to continue after high winds blew away or destroyed their tent and other climbing equipment.

A park helicopter saw them signaling for help on Monday, but a rescue wasn’t possible with wind gusts. Supplies were later dropped below the climbers because of weather, with hopes they could descend to it.

Three helicopter attempts on Tuesday didn’t work because of weather.

“The park reached out to partners in the United States Army to request the assistance of a Chinook helicopter from Joint Base Lewis-McChord,” Mt. Rainier National Park spokesman Kevin Bacher said in a statement. “At 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday a Chinook arrived with three Pararescue Jumpers out of the Air Force’s 304th Rescue Squadron in Portland, Oregon, and five members of the 2-135th General Support and Aviation Battalion out of JBLM. They attempted a reconnaissance on their way in, but the site was still too cloudy.”

A second attempt didn’t work because of wind. Cloudy and rainy weather prevented rescue efforts by air on Wednesday.

“Rangers are now preparing multiple rescue contingencies involving both air and ground operations as conditions permit,” Bacher said. Unstable weather forecasted for the next several days is expected to continue to limit air operations. The safety of rescue personnel is our highest priority. To assist with keeping rescuers and the public safe, an emergency closure will be issued for the Liberty Ridge route effective at 4:00 p.m. June 5. This closure is expected to continue until rescue operations are complete.”

KIRO 7 confirmed Thursday morning the four men are known to be in good condition. A heavy snowfall is forecasted for Friday, and ranger crews are hoping a break in the weather will allow ground and/or air crews to reach the climbers.

Help from Joint Base Lewis-McChord was again requested, but it is not yet known when the mission will be flown.

The four climbers are Yevgeniy Krasnitskiy of Portland, Oregon; Ruslan Khasbulatov, of Jersey City, New Jersey; Vasily Aushev, of New York, New York; and Kostya “Constantine” Toporov, of New York, New York.

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