Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Sad News, Hiker Died at Mt Whitney

News at Sierra Wave link:

http://news.sierrawave.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4019:oregon-hiker-dies-in-sierra&catid=6&Itemid=200021

The News:

Oregon Hiker Dies in Sierra

Written by Benett Kessler
Tuesday, 30 November 2010 16:45

A Portland, Oregon man died in the Sierra mountains in the Mt. Whitney area this week. Reports indicate he fell some 200 feet to his death.

According to the Inyo Sheriff's Department, 37-year-old Christian Meining of Oregon spent Thursday night at Lower Boy Scout Lake in the Mt. Whitney area. Officers said the next morning, Meining told a group of hikers that he was heading back down the trail. That was the last contact with the man.

Members of the Inyo Search and Rescue team began to look for the missing hiker on Monday. He was found deceased in the mountains Tuesday. Inyo Sheriff's Corporal Terry Waterbury, Search and Rescue Coordinator, said that it appeared the hiker had fallen some 200 feet.

A recovery effort was expected to take place Wednesday. A CHP helicopter has assisted the Inyo Search team on this mission.
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Anyone knows more about what happen?

"body was discovered Tuesday afternoon at the bottom of a steep ledge near a creek crossing on the Mt. Whitney trail, said the sheriff's office. A group of hikers told officials that Meining said he camped Thursday night at Lower Boy Scout Lake and intended to head down the trail."

from
news article

this "bottom of a steep ledge" suggests the E ledges. Would anyone still be using that high route this time of year, or would they already be down in the bushes and snow?

The start of the E-Ledges.


There was quite a bit of snow up there, but I think I could have done it had I been in the mood for gearing up for a short thrill on the crossing. The upper ledge that you walk west on did not look like it would have been a problem at all.

As usual, without more detail, the reporting is causing me confusion. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary when I climbed up the North Side (Wall, Rockwell Shortcut) and I think the accident had happened by the time I was up there.

I did see an odd set of tracks high on the south side that made me think that some ice climbers had been up to check out the formations lower down in the drainage.



As far as I was willing to go on the North Side without gear.
This is slightly higher than the start of the North Side Route.


Condolences to family and friends.

I'm glad I didn't go any higher than I did.

This is a great loss for our country as well as for this young man and his family. He was a bright young man, a physicist with his Ph.D. The USA and the world needs the best and the brightest to help solve so many problems. It's truly a sad story in so many ways. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

Hi Our thoughts and prayers will carry high into the Mountains and down to the Oceans for Christian's family and friends. The Portal Family

Brutal.. Why was this guy by himself in those conditions ? This is a good but way to expensive example of why we all should never be on a mountain like Whitney alone.

I'm not sure why being alone made any difference?

I think of Alex Lowe, who some argue was the premier mountaineer of his time. He and his two partners were traversing a flat glacier, when a serac broke loose over a mile above. They thought it posed no threat, and stopped to take pictures of the avalanche, when they realized it was coming right at them. Two of the three were killed and their bodies never recovered. It would have made no difference if there had been 50 of them.

It is not clear to me what another person would have contributed in Christian's case.

He didn't fall because he was alone. He fell because he was on the ledges and probably encountered ice and snow. In my humble opinion it is safer to wait till the north fork is covered and you can walk on it instead of the ledges. I just hope he went as peacefully as possible.