She was not moving and had been in and out of consciousness. Medics confirmed that she had died when they reached the base of the mountain, Larson said. 
 
 “The conditions yesterday were horrific,” Larson said Sunday. “It took 25 rescuers about five to six hours” to bring her off the mountain in a sled. 
 
 The woman, whose identity was not known, had been hiking with her dog near a group of a dozen other people Saturday afternoon when an avalanche hit Red Mountain near Snoqualmie Pass east of Seattle. 
 
 She had been buried in five feet of snow but was dug out with the help of a group of a dozen snowshoers, who had also been caught in the avalanche. 
 
 Members of the group told authorities that it took them 45 minutes to find the woman. They dug her out of five feet of snow. “They did their best to try to warm her up,” Larson said. 
 
 Meanwhile, the search for a 60-year-old hiker who was swept down the mountain in a separate avalanche at Granite Mountain Saturday was suspended indefinitely due to the poor weather conditions. 
 
 “There was a heavy snow dump last night, and conditions are still very hazardous,” Larson said. 
 
 The man, from Kent, Wash., was with two other friends when the avalanche carried them more than 1,200 feet down the mountain. The two friends suffered injuries that were described as not life-threatening. One of them was taken to a hospital, but Larson did not know his condition. 
 
 The avalanches occurred as heavy snow fell near Snoqualmie Pass. 
 
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 Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ||||| Authorities on Monday identified the body of a woman found in Mt. Rainier National Park late last week as Karen Sykes, a prominent local hiker and journalist. 
 
 Sykes, 70, of Seattle, had been missing for three days when a search for her was suspended Saturday afternoon after the discovery of a body. 
 
 The cause of her death, which was ruled an accident, was hypothermia, the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office told the Los Angeles Times. Coroner's officials said arteriosclerotic vascular disease, a type of hardening of the arteries, was a contributing factor. 
 
 Her boyfriend and hiking partner, Robert Morthorst, declined to comment. 
 
 Sykes and Morthorst were on the Owyhigh Lakes Trail on Wednesday night when they found that melting snow had cut off their path, according to a news release from the park. 
 
 Sykes went ahead but Morthorst believed the snow made hiking the eight-mile trail too difficult and stayed behind, a park spokeswoman said. 
 
 “Ms. Sykes is a very strong hiker and she wanted to go ahead, and her hiking partner had chosen not to hike on the snow, so they agreed to meet each other back at the same point,” said spokeswoman Mimi Gorman, when crews were still searching. 
 
 Morthorst reported Sykes missing about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday. Park officials later said she was carrying enough survival gear for one night. 
 
 Her death comes less than a month after six climbers trying to reach Mt. Rainier's summit disappeared in late May. All are presumed dead. Park officials suspended efforts to recover their bodies in the treacherous terrain. 
 
 Follow @mattpearce and @theryanparker for breaking news
– A woman has died hours after being dug out of an avalanche in Washington state yesterday, the Seattle Times reports. The woman was pulled alive from beneath five feet of snow by fellow hikers on a mountain near Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascade Mountains. Rescuers hiked two-and-a-half hours in blizzard-like conditions to find her, but it took another six hours to pull her off the mountain, and she was pronounced dead at the base, the Washington Post reports. The "horrific" conditions forced rescuers to indefinitely suspend the search for another hiker, missing yesterday after a separate avalanche in the same area. The 60-year-old man and two fellow snowshoers, both in their thirties, were flung over 1,200 feet down a mountain. The two younger men made it out injured but alive, but a team of about 50 rescuers could not locate their companion.