Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA

Mar 8, 2018 - 10:12pm PT
Dunno

whos reporting seeing their ski's still at the base?

Serge Leclerc: A little insight on my son Marc-André Leclerc to everyone involved or contemplating becoming involved in the search. Marc-André doesn’t think like most people and can be unpredictable in his decision making process. He is not only highly skilled and will rely on those skills to save himself but he also think outside the box and is very very good at reading a mountain and the environment he is in. His physical ability is well beyond average and so is his intelligence in general. Since he was a child he was always thought to be enjoy life and be safe first as he’s doing it. If he saw signs of the weather turning and felt a longer route outside of cell range even if it meant it would delay him but keep him safer, he would not have hesitated to go that route. I know Marc-André will survive for a long period of time with very little. He spent much of his time alone in the Canadian wilderness in the winter to prepare for events such as this....
I beg you... please don’t underestimate him for his young age. He has accomplished feats every one thought impossible... let’s get him back. Please don’t give up hope.
Thank you all for all your help and thoughts and prayer. Don’t stop praying and filling them with positive energy.
I’m grateful beyond words for everything you’re doing...

Press Release for 3/10/18
Juneau Mountain Rescue (JMR) continues to work with the Alaska State Troopers on the search for missing climbers Marc-Andre Leclerc and Ryan Johnson. Current weather conditions are severely hampering efforts to re-fly the area. On Thursday, March 8, the day the search began, four helicopter flights with search teams on board were deployed. Passes were made of the climbers’ planned Mendenhall Glacier exit route, along with their probable ascent and descent routes on the Mendenhall Towers. Both FLIR and RECCO were used to survey the area. The climber’s cache of gear that was not needed for the climb, which included skis, poles and a backpack, was located during those efforts, but deteriorating weather conditions limited further access. The United States Coast Guard and JMR attempted to access the area again Friday, March 9, but were turned around by foul weather. JMR crews spent Saturday, March 10 on weather hold at the Alaska Army National Guard aviation operations facility where the Guard flight crew has a helicopter prepared to fly when conditions allow. During the weather hold JMR has continued to work with friends and family of both climbers to establish a timeline of the climber’s activities. The National Weather Service has consistently provided weather status and forecast support for the search. All teams continue to look for the first available weather window to get back into the field

You can read Ryan's own account of the weather up there in March by finding his Climbing write up from his 2008 route.

Checking this thread daily hoping for some sign of good news

All told, we were out for 18 days, we received 20 to 25 feet of snow....

To all of our friends near and far who have been supporting us and praying for Marc André I wanted you all to hear it from me first hand before it’s in the news. Sadly we have lost 2 really great climber and I lost a son I am very proud of. Thank you for the support during this difficult time. My heart is so broken...Part of me is gone with him...
Our family appreciates all of your prayers and we would like to ask for a time of privacy as we come to grip with these devastating developments... Marc-André was an amazing, loving man and he has touched many lives in so many ways. He will be remembered and loved forever. I know he is with our Lord and I will be with him again one day. ❤️”

All support for this page will now go to the family to manage and deal with the multitude of items they now have in front of them. As well as much needed respite.
Thank you to everyone for all your messages and contribution. Our community is strong and we will get though this as a loving community.

I cried this morning.

F*#k Alpinism. Don’t go.

Every morning I would check this thread, thinking, please let there be good news, please.
I am so sorry.

F*#k Alpinism. Don’t go.

I don’t know where to go with this. I wouldn’t trade a single hand of Uno with my boy for 10 seconds on any peak.

F*#k Alpinism. Don’t go.

I wouldn’t trade a single hand of Uno with my boy for 10 seconds on any peak.

Bad weather complicated search efforts for days, but members of Juneau Mountain Rescue on Tuesday were finally able to get a good look at the north face of the Towers from a chartered Coastal helicopter.

They glimpsed an anchor rope at the top of an ice chute on the fourth tower and two climbing ropes in a crevasse midway down the tower, according to troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters. The ropes match the description of Johnson and Leclerc's gear.

"Everything tells us they are down in that crevasse and they are presumed deceased," Peters said.

It's not clear whether Johnson and Leclerc fell into the crevasse or an avalanche carried them into it, she said. "We do know they ascended, took pictures at the top. … We know they hiked a ridge over to the ice chute near the fourth tower."

“They were able to see some climbing ropes that matched the description of what the climbers used,” Peters said.

Peters said they don’t plan on a recovery operation because of the avalanche danger and other safety hazards.

Peters said searchers were able to home in on the pair’s location after a getting a signal back from a RECCO reflector. Different from avalanche beacons, RECCO reflectors are sometimes built inside helmets, boots or outdoor clothing and can reflect a signal that is transmitted by searchers — even when covered by snow.

Those of us who found a home in the climbing community were the lucky ones.

I think Bruce Lee said something like "I'd rather die a broken piece of jade than live a life of clay". Truly these men lived a life of jade, until it broke. Condolences to all.

All that cliche about "Live" and all that conjecture about dying of cancer while living a presumably "boring" life. Well, after you have kids, it is not your life to live anymore the way you want to...you give yourself up and live for your kids. Now there is a 2.5 year old little boy that will have no memory of his father and a mother left to raise that boy alone because the father died in a ice crack on some mountain far from being at home with his family. There is no glory, no legend, no dreamer or visionary. There is only a fatherless child and widow.

rather than standing on the sidelines debating details which the loved ones can't help but be forced to overhear.

They BLEW it! How DARE they take such risks when they had families?

they took such risks FOR THEIR CHILDREN

Marc was without a doubt the most humble and one of the most talented climbers I ever met. I've never seen someone so at ease soloing hard mixed terrain, yet at the same time so quiet and unassuming about it. He was a role model for the modern narcissistic climber; a real dirt bag who lived for the adventure but would never boast about it because it just wasn't in his nature to even think about boasting about climbing. He was a dreamer, a man who had a smile for every occasion and a passion for people as much as he did for climbing. I didn't know Marc as well as many people on this planet but from my time shooting him and capturing part of his life's story I was really struck by his character. I really enjoyed hanging out with Marc and our endless drives through the Canadian highways talking about everything under the sun. I remember telling him after driving out of The Ghost, that I was glad I'd spent all this time in a car with him talking otherwise I would have thought he was actually crazy having watched him solo the stuff he does. A hidden gem of a man, always flying way under the radar. I have so many fond memories of Marc and yet I only spent a few of weeks with him, but in those short few weeks I grew to respect a man ten years younger than me for the way he treated those around him and the way he engaged with the mountains. A legend in every single way.

Armchair quarterbacking on ST yet again. We pick our path and follow it as best we can.

Regardless of the lighter situation I was deeply happy and in an incredible state of mind. It was now my fourth day alone in the mountains and my thoughts had reached a depth and clarity that I had never before experienced. The magic was real.

Cherish every breath and honor the dead.

It simply is not our business. What is our business is to give support to the grieving.

A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are made for.

Not everyone is made the same...

Reward centers in the brain are addicted to a stimuli that is controlling the individual replacing normal drives like love and contentment with the next route soloed.

Its past time we stopped celebrating and enabling over the top risk taking by young people.

as a Medical Doctor

These risks are totally worthwhile when . . .

Extreme risks in climbing serve no further purpose . . .

At the top, Leclerc called Justin Sweeney, the team manager for his main sponsor, Arc'teryx. Sweeney told Outside magazine that the two climbers were celebrating their climb. They discussed whether they should descend via the north or south face. Sweeney didn't know which route they had chosen.