Ski Patroller from Heavenly still missing on Mt. Rainier

Dmitri Pajitnov (Dima), a member of the Heavenly Mountain Resort Ski Patrol team, has been missing since July 3, 2017 when he fell through a snow bridge on Washington's Mt. Rainier near Pebble Creek as he skied down the mountain.

His body has not been found and friends are heading back to the area this weekend for what they are calling a recovery mission.

Dmitri's ski partner observed the fall and searched for two hours using an avalanche probe and transceiver before descending to Paradise and reporting the incident according to a report from the National Park Service.

Rangers on the scene estimated three to five feet of snow covered Pebble Creek in the search area and reported hazardous conditions due to unstable snow and the potential to fall through the snow into the creek.

Friends in Dmitri's home state of Washington started a petition to force searchers to continue searching the mountain since they felt if anyone could survive, Dmitri could due to skill level. The petition on change.org caught the attention of lawmakers, prompting staff at Mt. Rainer to contact his family. They were told Dmitri's chances of survival are so slim, and conditions are so dangerous, that it would be too risky for rescue workers who could also fall through the snow themselves.

Several independent search parties have attempted to find Dmitri but have been unsuccessful.

"After consulting with professional rescue personnel and among ourselves, we quickly came to the painful conclusion that Dima’s chance of survival under the current conditions was minimal," friends posted on a GoFundMe page. So far they've raised over $20,000 in hopes they can hire their own pilots and rescue team to search for Dmitri.

“We offer our condolences to the family and friends of the missing skier,” Randy King, the Park’s Superintendent told KIRO in Seattle. “From the outpouring of concern, he was obviously much loved. What would compound this tragedy would be the loss of another life. For this reason we advise against private efforts to continue the search.”

With the funds from the GoFundMe account, Dmitri's friends are planning to hire professional alpine climbers this weekend to resume the search of his body and its possible recovery.

In South Lake Tahoe, Dmitri not only worked at Heavenly but had also been an emergency room technician at Barton Hospital. He originally moved to the South Shore from Seattle in 2011, then went to medical school in 2016 to start pursuing his passion for medicine. He was on his way back to medical school when he stopped by Mt. Rainier to ski the mountain.

There will be a celebration of for Dmitri Pajitnov on July 18 at the Lakeside Beach House in South Lake Tahoe at 5:00 p.m.