PARADISE, Wash. — A Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman says a Kent, Wash., man who was sliding down a lower mountain slope with his son on July 4 died in an accident.
Patti Wold said Thursday that the unidentified man was sliding intentionally "in a controlled manner" in the Edith Creek area about a mile from Paradise when he broke through roughly four feet of snow that covered the creek. The man was swept about 30 feet down the creek underneath the snow.
His juvenile son went for help at the nearby Paradise visitors area. Wold says a group of mountain guides training nearby responded and found the man with his face submerged in the water. The guides and National Park Service rangers recovered the man and started CPR.
Wold says the man was airlifted to a hospital but was pronounced dead.
She says the accident is under investigation.
