Emergency response teams and a helicopter crew rescued six climbers after they became stuck in ice on snowbound Yushan (玉山) early yesterday morning.
The group was airlifted after rescuers found them above the mountain’s 3,000m mark using a search and rescue Air force Sikorsky Bluehawk Helicopter at 8:10am.
Medics on the scene said the six mountaineers were unhurt. However, the leader of the group, Chen Men-ciong (陳門瓊), remains missing after falling into a mountain gorge group members said was hundreds of meters deep.
PHOTO: CNA
The National Parks Police Corps precinct of Yushan National Park told reporters yesterday after the rescue that rescuers had dropped off the helicopter into the gorge in an attempt to look for Chen.
Despite multiple attempts, no trace of the missing mountaineer has been found. However, officials said they would step up rescue efforts and that rescuers would continue to look for Chen downriver at Kaohsiung County’s Nanzihsian River (楠梓仙溪).
Officials at the precinct said they would attempt to enlist the help of experienced climbers Chiang Hsiu-chen (江秀真), Wu Yu-lung (伍玉龍) and the rest of their team to assist rescuers as many lacked experience for high-altitude rescue in heavy snow.
The gorge in which Chen is believed to have fallen into has been blanketed by between 40cm and 50cm of snow.
The extreme drop in temperatures — the result of a cold front from the northwest — is behind the large amounts of snowfall recorded at Yushan and Hehuanshan (合歡山).
After near 11 hours of continuous snowfall on Hehuan Mountain, accumulations were at 10-year highs of as much as 50cm, measured near Song-syue Lodge, a popular tourist attraction.
Police have set up a monitoring station in the mountain and are restricting large vehicles from entering the area. Tourists visiting the Song-syue Lodge and Wuling (武嶺) areas are restricted to traveling in four-wheel drive vehicles equipped with snow chains.
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