By The Associated Press

ASHFORD, Wash. — High winds are delaying attempts to recover the body of a park ranger who who fell to his death during a rescue operation high on Mount Rainier.

Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman Nancy Stimson says officials initially thought the clear weather and lower avalanche risk would allow searchers to recover the body of 33-year-old Nick Hall this morning.

Those attempts had to be called off, but Stimson says officials will try again if the winds subside this afternoon.

Hall was originally from Patten, Maine. He fell 2,500 feet on June 21 on the Emmons glacier after helping rescue four climbers from Waco, Texas.

Three of those climbers were injured and remain in fair condition at Madigan Army Medical Center.