SEATTLE, July 3 (UPI) -- Search teams are scouring Washington's Mount Rainier for a climber missing for two days after becoming separated from his companions, authorities said.
Eric Lewis, 57, of Duvall, Wash., and two climbing companions were ascending the mountain Thursday in poor weather when Lewis apparently unclipped himself from the rope linking the three together and disappeared, The Seattle Times reported Saturday.
The other climbers contacted rangers who began the search, the newspaper said.
Park climbing rangers, commercial climbing guides and two helicopters joined the search Friday.
Searchers found Lewis' backpack at 13,600 feet and a snow cave 200 feet higher, officials said.
His climbing companions say they last saw Lewis, an experienced climber who had climbed the mountain at least twice before, at 1 p.m. Thursday at about 14,000 feet, the Times reported.
