The body of Mount Rainier climbing ranger Nick Hall won’t be recovered until after the Fourth of July, a National Park Service spokeswoman said Monday.
Weather windows early this week are expected to be too small to safely get a crew of climbing rangers to Hall’s body via helicopter, spokeswoman Kathy Steichen said.
“Nick Hall’s family totally understands and wants this to be as safe as possible,” Steichen said. “There is no pressure” to do the recovery sooner.
Steichen says the first promising weather window should be late Thursday or Friday.
Hall died June 21 when he fell on the Emmons Glacier while helping rescue four injured climbers from Texas. Climbing rangers have prepared his body to be lifted off the mountain, but poor weather and high risk of avalanche have kept them from retrieving him.
A memorial service was held Friday at Paradise’s Jackson Visitor Center.
An investigation into the incident was ongoing, Steichen said. Recovering Hall’s body is not believed crucial to the investigation, she said.
craig.hill@thenewstribune.com
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