Rescuers hope for better weather in search

JUNEAU, Alaska — A highly trained rescue group based in southwest Alaska says its members are ready to join the search for a missing British Columbia man and his climbing companion if the weather is suitable. Members of Juneau Mountain Rescue flew in an Alaska Army National Guard helicopter on Monday during a brief break in the weather over the Mendenhall icefield, about 20 kilometres north of Juneau.

A post on the rescue group’s website says crews only had a short time over the Mendenhall Towers before the weather closed in, and there was no sign of 24-year-old Marc-andre Leclerc or his 34-year-old climbing partner Ryan Johnson.