Longmire, WA – Rescuers report this morning that they have located two snowboarders lost in heavy weather on Washington’s Mount Rainier, but it will still take some time to lead them to safety.

Derek Tyndall and Thomas Dade, ages 20 and 21, became lost and disoriented in heavy snowfall and wind while descending from Camp Muir on Sunday afternoon. Outfitted for only a day trip and lacking overnight gear or much in the way of food or water, the pair huddled in a snow cave on Sunday night but were not heard from since Monday morning when the battery in their cell phone died.

Some 30 rescuers working in five-man teams reported difficulty breaking trail through the two to four feet of new snow above the Paradise ranger station of Mount Rainier National Park in their effort to reach the two men. They were able to make visual contact from about a half mile away before darkness fell late Monday afternoon, but as of 11 a.m. local time today report that they have reached the pair.

Rescuers report that the two snowboarders appear to have suffered no major injuries.