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The Chief
climber
Down the hill & across the Valley from......
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Looks kinda snowey down here DEAN. Got the white stuff around 7K behind and above my house.
Looking across the valley, looks whiter at around the same alt.
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The Chief
climber
Down the hill & across the Valley from......
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Suppose to warm up by Tuesday throgh Friday.
Be safe... prayers will be guarding ya! ;]
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
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Forecast looks good.
Have a nice trip.
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crankster
Trad climber
No. Tahoe
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Good luck, cragman. Be safe. Looks like a good forecast, after today.
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overwatch
climber
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You are a committed individual. All respect to you.
Edit;
2300 posts... some believe that the number 23 heralds life changing events. Maybe this is the trip? stay safe out there
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scooter
climber
fist clamp
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I have run around the NF of RItter since this guy has been gone. I didn't see any cloth ball piles, shards of equipment or birds picking. Quite few people climb those peaks from the North side.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Colorado, Nepal & Okinawa
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Looking forward to it !
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John M
climber
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and It seemed odd to me how dressed out, and meticulously the original post is constructed.
this was an ongoing thing. A number of threads had been started as various friends and family didn't know who was doing what, and so the information was confusing and spread out. It was then suggested that someone put together a cogent post and start a new thread which would contain all of the information in one place. This is the result.
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LAhiker
Social climber
Los Angeles
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Dean, I'm glad you returned safely from your last trip and that despite the weather, you had the sense you were doing the right thing.
I hope your dose of clarity guides you on this next trip and that in any event you stay safe. Take care and thanks for doing this.
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PAUL SOUZA
Trad climber
Central Valley, CA
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Be safe Dean!
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Jimr
climber
Redondo Beach, CA
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In that order :-)
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LilaBiene
Trad climber
Technically...the spawning grounds of Yosemite
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Thoughts and prayers are with you!
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Dave Faus
climber
Mammoth
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Oct 10, 2015 - 09:04pm PT
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Good luck searching out there Dean. My name is Dave and I met you today (Saturday) below Ritter/banner and you mentioned your search for Matthew. I'm looking forward to hearing how your search on Banner went.
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Jimr
climber
Redondo Beach, CA
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Oct 12, 2015 - 07:51pm PT
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I'm going to throw out a possibility that has been gnawing at me since a week before I last went out to search with Maverick and crew last month. It falls right in line with Dean's epiphany that his main goal was mountain climbing, not ice climbing, but ice crossings needed to be geared for.
Has anyone check the register on Kehrlein Minaret? Although the gut feelings of several is that he is somewhere in the Ritter/Banner area, it doesn't mean he is, in fact, there. A bang-up day could be had going up the South Notch, climbing Kehrlein, traversing over to Starr, then back to the Starr/Kehrlein chute and down toward the tarn above Deadhorse lk, then over the saddle between Kehrlein and Pridham, bag Pridham if time permits, then across over to Cecile and back down to Agnew Meadow. Since he bagged both Rielgelhuth and Clyde, this trifecta would have covered a good portion of the southern Minarets and well withing his comfort zone (I think) considering the gear he brought with him and the fact that he was solo. I think most of this is in the class 3 range with a bit of class 4 going up Kehrlein. This traverse would also put the more difficult stuff earlier with an easy peasy peak at the finish (Pridham) and no big deal if time did not permit. If he signed the register on the 17th , would that be considered actual, actionable evidence? I think so.
If he signed the register on that day, then perhaps he ran into trouble moving South down to the crest heading to Starr. If he didn't sign the register, there's a possibility he ran into a mishap at the summit before he could sign it, but now there is no evidence to be found in the register. I strongly believe that if this was his goal for the day, then there is evidence on the S/E side of Kehrlein. Either he fell down the nasty S/E slope of K (if so, pray he signed the register because that is some nasty looking stuff) or he fell from the ridge separating K & S. Either way, if this scenario is true then there is a high probability of evidence somewhere in the bowl/ridge/ledges between Starr & Kehrlein.
He said he was going to the Minarets. While there are valid arguments to take that both literally and generally, both are equally valid and cannot be ignored. If someone was so inclined, and it has not been done (I haven't seen any reports), I really think the register at Kehrlein should be checked.
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Oct 12, 2015 - 10:18pm PT
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here is a TR a few weeks after he disappeared for Pridham Minaret, and this party was the first to sign in, in 2013.
http://highwire.org/~galic/hiking/minarets/pridham/
here is a 2015 climb of kehrlein:
http://www.ianmceleney.com/2015/09/the-minaret-traverse.html
"Now a bunch of talus walking led to Starr Minaret. We cached the climbing gear somewhere on the way and climbed Starr as the light faded. Our route to the summit was not the easiest way up and the descent even less so, but eventually we found our way back to the gear and hiked up Kehrlein Minaret. I had been on Kehrlein before, on a previous attempt traveling the other direction with my friend Dale Apgar. It's east ridge is the most complicated terrain feature connecting two minarets that we would travel on. I felt confident that we wouldn't get lost and would take a generally efficient route. Little did I know that our time getting from Kehrlein to Pridham Minaret would be well over 4 times the average time it took us to get between all the other summits. Though morale was still high and we were both still functioning well mentally the 17 summits before this one were making themselves felt. We moved more slowly in the dark, and made five rappels as we ground our way east. I don't know if I speak for Scott on this but I hope to never climb Kehrlein Minaret again. "
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Jimr
climber
Redondo Beach, CA
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Oct 13, 2015 - 09:13am PT
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The first post and Bob Burd's 2006 TR is what got me thinking about a trifecta. Regarding the second post, I e-mailed Ian to find out if he has a picture of the Kehrlein peak register with interest in Matthew's possible signature. Yes, the east ridge he speaks of Roper rates class 5+ with a few repels. From the South Notch, a fun class 3 - 4.
In no way do I want to imply that Ritter/Banner should be scrapped. It is just as valid as any other logical possibility.
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Jimr
climber
Redondo Beach, CA
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Oct 13, 2015 - 09:54am PT
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Here's Ian's reply
Jim,
I don't have any photos of summit registers. Scott and I only looked at them occasionally and didn't sign in. We definitely didn't stop for the one on Kehrlein. The first time I was on Kehrlein, a few weeks earlier and with a different partner, we found the register really hard to open. It's made of PVC pipe and the cap is hard to remove. I didn't take any photos of it on that first visit, but I just sent a message to my partner on that day to find out if he did. I'll let you know what he says.
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JB Jr
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Oct 13, 2015 - 12:02pm PT
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Hi Dean,
We met this Saturday after my friend Ben & my's summit of Mt. Ritter. Will continue to check in here and send all the positive vibes your way. Cheers!
Jay
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Jimr
climber
Redondo Beach, CA
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Oct 13, 2015 - 10:30pm PT
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Ian's partner did not take any photos of the register either.
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