Missing swimmer is still alive after massive landslide in Alaska

Missing swimmer is still alive after massive landslide in Alaska

Shaun Mitchell, 21, of Lakeland, Fla., is among more than 10,000 people who perished after their boats sank into an avalanche at a popular beach early Tuesday.

His death is the latest in the avalanche tragedy at the popular resort of Whistler earlier this month, which prompted the evacuation of several communities along the Northwest coast.

Mitchell, a 2012 Whistler alumnus, was visiting the Whistler Resort area with friends when he began struggling to free his boat from a small ice cave at Hump Park on Whistler Island, said local photographer Jason Wilson, who was with him on the ride.

They swam to safety at 1 a.m., then were stranded for hours in the mountains, Wilson said.

“I don’t know what to think of this, but that’s really sad. Especially when you look at what the ski area has taken from us and what the park has taken from us,” he said.

A few miles away, some surfers posted messages of gri바카라사이트ef in the comments section of a우리카지노 post that showed rescuers scouring rocky trails with binoculars to spot the two-man, four-wheeled dingy they were looking for, Wilson said.

A video by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer captured rescuers rescuing an elderly man lying on the ground near the cliff’s edge.

The snow covered beach was closed. Police had asked the public not to walk at the cliff’s edge Tuesday as snowmelt from the massive ice avalanche had swept away loose material, according to the RCMP.

It appeared the rescue was successful but is still under investigation.

The avalanche occurred just before 4 a.m. at Whistler’s Hump Park on Whis바카라tler Island.

Wendie Cusack can be reached at 206-448-8348 or wcusack@seattletimes.com. Follow her on Twitter at @WSVaughnCusack.

Three people were swept away in the snow in Canada’s largest avalanche

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