The Clark County Medical Examiners’s Office identified the remains of a man recently found on Mount St. Helens as 27-year-old Yosuke Onishi.
The Japanese man reportedly left the Lone Fir Resort in Cougar on the morning of Nov. 27, 2013 with plans to ascend the mountain from Climbers Bivouac. He was reported missing that day when he didn’t return to the resort. Initial search and rescue efforts were unsuccessful.
With better weather and conditions, the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office renewed the search on Saturday, Aug. 9. Searchers found remains that afternoon near the 7,100-foot level on the south slope, west of the normal south climbing route, and just below the crater rim, according to Skamania County Undersheriff Dave Cox. The remains were removed from the mountain by helicopter and taken to the medical examiner’s office.
The search effort was a concerted effort by 13 different agencies from Washington and Oregon that focused on about 9 square miles of difficult terrain on the south slope.
Onishi traveled to the U.S. from Saga Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It was his first trip to Mount St. Helens, but not his first time mountaineering. His family came to Cougar and posted fliers after he went missing.
