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High up on the snowy north face of Mount Rainier, Kyle Bufis ventured out into the vanishing light and roaring winds to retrieve a stove.
He never came back to camp.
That was Thursday night, more than 14,000 feet up Washington State's glacial mountain. By Saturday afternoon, park rangers suspended the search for him after a helicopter near the summit found a body.
"Although the subject matches the description of the missing climber, confirmation rests with the Pierce County Medical Examiner," the National Park Service announced Saturday.
The search for the 25-year-old Utah climbing instructor had focused on the confluence of the Winthrop and Emmons glaciers.
"The [route they took] is one of the most difficult routes on the mountain," said Patti Wold, spokeswoman for the National Park Service. "It is not highly traveled."
Bufis and two others summited Liberty Cap on the mountain's north side, then began their descent Thursday.
"They had made a camp for the night… but the first one didn't work out. They had to pack up and move," Wold said. "They didn't move that far. They were trying to get out of the winds."
But when they realized they left their stove at the first camp, Bufis went to get it. He didn't take his pack, since he wasn't planning on going far, Wold said. She believes he was still dressed for the elements.
Park rangers first heard of Bufis' disappearance about 5:10 a.m. Friday.
The other two climbers, Derek Gavelis and Mathew Wiech, reached Camp Schurman late Friday afternoon.
"Both are tired, but in good physical condition," the National Park Service reported. The two men are from the East Coast.
The high winds the climbers experienced aren't the norm for the mountain this time of year, Wold said. When an air reconnaissance team took off Friday to look for Bufis, they were expecting 70 mph gales.
The ground, though, is "pretty good," Wold said. Gavelis and Weich told park rangers that it "wasn't real icy, it had some firm snow on it."
Rangers suspended the search for Bufis Friday evening and resumed Saturday morning.
Bufis lives in Springdale and teaches climbing at the St. George-based Expeditiion Therapy Associates, according to his Facebook page.
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