Woman Dies in 'Horrific' Avalanche

A woman has died hours after being dug out of an avalanche in Washington state yesterday, the Seattle Times reports. The woman was pulled alive from beneath five feet of snow by fellow hikers on a mountain near Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascade Mountains. Rescuers hiked two-and-a-half hours in blizzard-like conditions to find her, but it took another six hours to pull her off the mountain, and she was pronounced dead at the base, the Washington Post reports.

The "horrific" conditions forced rescuers to indefinitely suspend the search for another hiker, missing yesterday after a separate avalanche in the same area. The 60-year-old man and two fellow snowshoers, both in their thirties, were flung over 1,200 feet down a mountain. The two younger men made it out injured but alive, but a team of about 50 rescuers could not locate their companion. (More Washington state stories.)