Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board fallen climber on Whitney this past weekend??

Hi All,
Haven't seen anything on the site, so hope the
info is unfounded. A couple of guys in our office
mentioned that someone had died on a "down climb"
off of Whitney this weekend. They said it happened
off a cliff? at around 13,500. Any info??
Rick

Made the LA Times:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-hiker-falls-mt-whitney-20130903,0,7940287.story

Sounds like either Trail Crest area or the 99-switchbacks?

As Ed Viesturs says, Getting to the top is optional, getting back down is mandatory.

RIP.

Backside of Whitney.

The Bakersfield article talks about cell reception. On a dayhike in June another hiker commented on excellent cell reception in the first window (4G). I tried it myself and found it to be the case. Whether the rock walls concentrate/focus the signal or it's a fluke - don't know.

As for call reception, back when I had an analog phone, I had cell reception on the top of Whitney in 1996. The other people were amazed at seeing "that guy has a cell phone." Now .....

LA times article inappropriately says he "Conquers Mt. Whitney"- Reminds me of Scott "conquering" the South Pole. Yes, Scott got there (second), but did not get back. Sorry if this sounds crude. It is sad about Mr. Kato. Rest in Peace.

Mouse had great reception Thursday when we were sitting on the summit having a snickers.

or multiple snickers - whichever the case was...

I saw this on SummitPost. It may not be related but worth a mention if anyone has contact with people from the September 1st incident. The original poster subsequently stated that he received no response from Inyo SAR.

Found complete set of gear west of Discovery Pinnacle

by seano » Mon Sep 23, 2013 9:50 pm

I found a complete set of gear -- stove, pack, bear can, tent, pad, sleeping bag, etc. -- on my way out on a backpack. The food was partially eaten. It looked like it might have been an uncomfortable dry camp that had been there at least a little while, perhaps over the winter. I couldn't find any ID.

Has there been a search-and-rescue, death, or missing person in that area this year which resulted in abandoned gear? If so, please let me know. I'll probably head back and booty it otherwise.

EDIT: I emailed Inyo SAR; we'll see what they say.

Last edited by seano on Tue Sep 24, 2013 8:08 pm, edited 2 times in total.

You might want to get back to the original poster and remind him/her that "West of Discovery Pinnacle" is SEKI, not Inyo.

saltydog, good point thank-you.

I wonder who goes in after the "Seasonals" are laid off for the season...?

original poster on SP shared update saying an item of the retieved gear was marked "Zach M." He assumed that INYO would have contacted SEKI to share the report of the found gear.