The search for missing snowboarder Kate Svitek, 22, continued Friday as searchers combed the Northwest Territory on Mount Bachelor. Svitek has been missing since Feb. 9 at around noon when she was separated from her friends while snowboarding in the bowls off Mount Bachelor's Northwest chairlift.

Search crews called it quits around 4 p.m. Friday as the temperature dropped and dark clouds rolled in obscuring the summit. According to Chris Nolte of the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, more searchers from other states may help the effort. Nolte said he is hoping to get highly trained mountain rescue teams. On Thursday, members of American Medical Response (AMR) joined the search crews and are now helping direct the search. The Oregon division of AMR has rescue workers who are trained in river rescues and mountain search and rescue. Under direction of AMR Manager Mike Christie of the special operations division, the teams are now using four search techniques to look for Svitek. In addition to using dogs and probing the snow with ski poles and avalanche probes, they are also using low-density search methods and critical spacing searches in which a mathematical calculation shows how far apart searchers should be while searching under defined terrain and visibility conditions.

There were no dogs searching Friday, and the U.S. Army National Guard helicopter no longer circled the mountain. The Mount Bachelor ski patrol stayed on regular patrol duties, but patrol members from Mount Hood are aiding in the search. The number of searchers was down from about 100 Thursday to about 75 Friday, but Christie said he expects that number to increase today as more volunteers arrive. He said they are asking for search crews specially trained to handle the steep, now icy terrain and are pulling teams from other states including Washington. While Nolte still believes Svitek is on the mountain, he said there are also detectives involved who are investigating other possibilities. "We have no clues that would lead us to think she's not on the mountain," he said at a news conference late Friday afternoon.

The search area extends from the Outback Express chairlift to Tot Mountain, an area off the backside of the ski area. At the top of the Summit chairlift Friday, a message board warned skiers and snowboarders headed off the backside to be aware of heavy foot and snowmobile traffic in the area and on the getback trail. Nolte said that based on their calculations, they believe there's a chance Svitek is still alive.