Skier's body recovered in Mount Rainier National Park 3 weeks after apparent 200-foot fall

The body of a female skier last heard from on May 18 was recovered in Mount Rainier National Park three weeks later, on Saturday, the National Park Service said in a news release Tuesday.

The service said rangers started searching May 19 in response to a report of an overdue skier who'd set out to ski tour above the park's Paradise area.

Four rangers and two volunteers searched on the ground, and the park's contract helicopter spotted an unresponsive person on a reconnaissance flight during a window of favorable weather, the service said.

Her body was found at the base of Pebble Creek's Moraine Falls above Paradise. She appeared to have fallen some 200 feet to the base of a waterfall, the service said, adding that, "The area was surrounded by a large, unstable snow moat that was subject to rock and ice fall, which posed too high of an immediate risk to recovery teams."

The Seattle Times quoted a spokesperson for the service, Patti Wold, as saying the woman's body was found within a day but rescue teams couldn't recover her until Saturday due to dangerous weather.

After rangers recovered her body, the chopper brought it to the Kautz Creek Helibase for evaluation by the Pierce County Medical Examiner, the service said.

The woman's name wasn't released.

Brian Dakss

Brian Dakss is a longtime New York-based editor and writer for CBS News, at the Radio network and with CBSNews.com. He has written and edited for NBC News, Dow Jones and numerous radio stations and been a radio anchor and reporter.