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kenish
Gym climber
Orange County, CA
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Aug 26, 2013 - 01:34pm PT
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If only one tower caught the signal, there is no directional information. Triangulation requires at least two towers
A full cell site is 9-12 antennas in a triangle. (The antennas are not always on an actual tower, and all 3 sides of the triangle won't have antennas if 360 coverage isn't needed). The individual antennas have a pretty narrow pattern of 20-40 degrees. Direction from the cell site can be narrowed down since the antenna(s) that received the "ping" is recorded. The 3am ping, if accurate, was north of the site (and not east or west). That narrows it down to Main Lodge or Inyo Crater.
Distance from the cell site is calculated by the "time of flight" of the radio signal and/or the GPS info returned from the phone to the cell network. An "e911" feature is required on all phones made in the past 5 years or so. You're correct that 2 sites are required to pinpoint a phone that has older or no e911 technology.
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crusher
climber
Santa Monica, CA
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Aug 26, 2013 - 01:36pm PT
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RJ, thanks, I couldn't visualize how far it was.
I sort of doubt the booth would have cameras but maybe someone can ask. Imagine if there was footage and Matt was spotted on it?
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SplitPants
Social climber
LA
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Aug 26, 2013 - 01:36pm PT
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FIELD UPDATE FROM CRAGMAN/DEAN**
All,
I just received the following text message and pictures from cragman/dean:
"Just reached Minaret glacier. Brutal winds for two days now adding to the challenging terrain. Nothing so far." He has also been in radio contact with a SAR member to double check on glasses. Since no word "We continue on......."
I have attached the pics cragman/dean sent.
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Aug 26, 2013 - 01:36pm PT
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mattyj
unfortunately your link doesn't work for me.
All the cell tower (in fact all commercial transmitters) beam patterns are on file with the FCC and public record. The TV/radio stations are easy to find. That doesn't make the cell tower patterns easy to get.
kenish, good info.
Unfortunately Matt had a pretty old phone.
Good pic from Cragman (Dean).
The first pic is taken from the traverse I mentioned up thread. Closer to the Ritter (north) end. Cecile Lake in center, Iceberg lake on left, Volcanic Ridge in center distance, the glacier out of view up and right. Climber is approaching the first (and largest) of the deep chasms that drain the glacier down to Iceberg.
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SplitPants
Social climber
LA
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Aug 26, 2013 - 01:37pm PT
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Second photo received
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SplitPants
Social climber
LA
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Aug 26, 2013 - 01:43pm PT
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HighTraverse see below
Cell information provided to the family summarized:
>From 8:12 AM to 3:06 PM cell phone registered:
Lat 37.638167 Lon -118.961611, 1601 Meridian Blvd, Mammoth Lakes, Ca.
Directly south of the library. Directly north a mile or two from where Matt was camping.
> From 4:29 PM to 4:35 PM cell phone registered:
Lat 37.630528 Log -119-033078, 5920 Minaret Rd, Mammoth Lakes, Ca, top of Mammoth Mountain.
This is the last phone call from Matt’s phone (per MLPD no more pings after the 16th of July at 4:35 pm)
> 07/17 5:53 AM ET / 2:53 AM PT Text Received
> Per MLPD: 2:48 pm, July 17, 2013, 39 Pinecrest, Mammoth Lakes, Ca, Verizon building and tower. This address is the main Verizon building/tower in Mammoth Lakes. There is no activity after the 16th of July, as indicated on my Verizon emergency request re: Greene’s cell phone, his phone was turned off/powered off. The 2:48 pm is not a ping, because there is no Lat & Lon indicated.
[EDIT: Added] Per MLPD: Verizon nor any other cellular service provider ping text, it pings the telephone when the telephone is on, not turned off.
[EDIT Added:] Per MLPD: From July 17, 2013 to July 30, 2013, 39 Pinecrest, Mammoth Lakes, Ca
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SplitPants
Social climber
LA
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Aug 26, 2013 - 01:45pm PT
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MCGuzzy/MattyJ
I don't think he had strap on crampons. Double check with posts by SplitPants. She is trying to keep an up to date inventory of the items Matt had with him, as well as a verifiable timeline. We have been corroborating it with Jeg (Jill and John)the people Matt was climbing with when his car broke down and whom retrieved his belongings when he went missing.
My notes indicate the following in regards to crampons:
Black diamond step-ins, horizontal front points with black and yellow strap. Approximately 10 years old and heavily used. The model name is not known.
o Step-ins that were borrowed from a friend/John
o If there was a possibility of snow, Matt would have most likely taken crampons just in-case.
The crampons were old. Jill is trying to research the model.
Tx
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Aug 26, 2013 - 01:45pm PT
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Great info. So Matt's phone was definitely "in town" at 2:53 AM.
Black diamond step-ins, horizontal front points with black and yellow strap. Approximately 10 years old and heavily used. I've got a pair of these. Perfectly suitable for anything in the region. That's what I would take.
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LAhiker
Social climber
Los Angeles
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Aug 26, 2013 - 01:49pm PT
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Based on Matt’s accounts of earlier trips and their own experience, HighTraverse and others have argued convincingly that after taking an easy day in town it’s likely that Matt sought some big objective, such as something in the Banner/Ritter area or Iron Mountain. But we don’t know for sure. Here are some questions:
-People refer to that as a possible victory lap. Is it known what Matt planned to do after the car was fixed? Was he planning to join friends elsewhere?
-Is it likely that Matt would have mentioned a really big climb to family or friends? Or did he not talk about such things with them – to avoid alarming them, or because for him climbing big objectives was routine?
-Is he likely to have planned such a big day in advance, or might he have made a spur of the moment decision that morning? (I think him being up at 2:53am makes that very unlikely, as he apparently wasn’t usually up at that hour. Also, mightn’t he have needed extra supplies for a big hike/climb? What did he usually bring to eat on such hikes/climbs?)
-Some planning was definitely needed if he was going to get a ride -- hard to hitch at 4 am. I do hope people can talk with the Mammoth employees. Are there some objectives such that he could have hitched a ride partway and then walked to a trailhead?
-I’m not familiar with the area – which road is it that goes out to Agnew Meadows? I hope someone can check the drop-offs next to it, in case Matt was walking there and was hit by a car or bus. (If he was hit by a bus, you’d think someone on the bus would have noticed. Also, as someone pointed out, assuming it was a public bus, he could have waited and simply taken the bus.)
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Dan Watson
climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Aug 26, 2013 - 01:52pm PT
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I just got the results of the inspection of the glasses found on Friday at the trail head to Inyo Craters. The glasses are store bought "cheaters" and not prescription lenses similar to Matt's prescription. So the glasses appear to be a dead end.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Aug 26, 2013 - 01:56pm PT
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Thanks...Chief...!
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SplitPants
Social climber
LA
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Aug 26, 2013 - 01:56pm PT
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Thanks for the update Chief!
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Klimmer
Mountain climber
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Aug 26, 2013 - 01:58pm PT
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Well I just posted my impatient rant as the chief responded. OOOOooooopppsss!
I don't know. Gut feeling. I would still search the area. Too many strange coincidences from multiple people. How common are those store bought glasses that look nearly exactly like Matt's even if they aren't prescription but only cheap reading glasses or "cheaters"? Really weird.
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Aug 26, 2013 - 02:09pm PT
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LAHiker
Are there some objectives such that he could have hitched a ride partway and then walked to a trailhead? Yes. Starting from the top of the road a mile west of Mammoth Mt ski area adds about 5miles downhill to either Agnew Meadow trailhead. For Matt that's a little over an hour. Another 30 minutes to Reds Meadow TH. Someone giving him a lift would likely drive the extra 30 - 45 minutes round trip and deliver him to the TH (I would).
To get to the possible climbs indicated by taking his boots/crampons/axe, he would almost certainly plan on a pre-dawn start.
-I’m not familiar with the area – which road is it that goes out to Agnew Meadows? This is the road that runs past Shady Rest campground, through town and then passes the ski area. Google Earth will show it.
I hope someone can check the drop-offs next to it, in case Matt was walking there and was hit by a car or bus. (If he was hit by a bus, you’d think someone on the bus would have noticed. Also, as someone pointed out, assuming it was a public bus, that he would have waited and simply taken the bus.) The only public transportation is a shuttle bus from the ski resort to both trailheads. This bus only runs during "busy" hours. I don't know the exact hours but I'm sure someone here does. There would likely be a few private cars going down the road early in the morning. Matt wouldn't have waited for the bus, he'd have just kept walking the extra 30 or 45 minutes, all downhill. He may well have planned to get back early enough to catch the last bus back. Or to walk/thumb it if he missed it.
It's clear that Matt thought nothing of big days in the mountains….even relished them.
July 17, just past the longest day of the year, good weather. Could easily have planned to be out 14 hours or more. That reasonably gets him out to the Minarets/Ritter/Banner, do some "messing about" on the glaciers or even a medium climb (Ritter SE Glacier etc) and back.
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mattyj
Mountain climber
Truckee
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Aug 26, 2013 - 02:11pm PT
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A quick note on crampons. from jeg upthread:
He had 2 sets of crampons. His strap ons were with his stuff. The step in crampons he borrowed from my husband for the summer are missing.
Point being that he chose an especially burly configuration for the 17th, one that's (IMO) unnecessary for the popular summits we've been focused on. Again, I don't want to focus on that one decision to the exclusion of all other evidence.
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crusher
climber
Santa Monica, CA
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Aug 26, 2013 - 02:28pm PT
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Ok so we have results on the glasses. I have to say I did think it was strange that Matt would have gone to the craters. Maybe on a rest day to just check them out and they are "on the way", located on Scenic Route which itself is just off the road to Main Lodge and the road down to Red's Meadows (trailheads location Matt would use for Minarets). But the craters just didn't seem a likely place for Matt to go other than to just futz around on a rest day.
Still would like to know if Main Lodge has any cameras out facing Minarets Rd. - to see if any cars went by late on the 16th and into the 17th.
The shuttles to Red's Meadows, I believe begin at 7:00 am and end at 7:00 pm.
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mattyj
Mountain climber
Truckee
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Aug 26, 2013 - 02:40pm PT
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Unfortunately the SummitPost access logs are a dead end, their log files were autodeleted by the time anyone knew Matt was missing.
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SplitPants
Social climber
LA
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Aug 26, 2013 - 02:41pm PT
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NEW UPDATE FROM CRAGMAN/DEAN
"Heading slightly down to the toe of the steepest part of the glacier. Wind here in the lee not so bad."
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Klimmer
Mountain climber
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Aug 26, 2013 - 02:42pm PT
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The glasses are commonly sold:
Personal Optics:
http://higcapital.com/portfolio/company/71
Personal Optics is one of the leading marketers and distributors of eyewear in the United States. Based in Fullerton, California, the Company is a major distributor of non-prescription reading glasses and popular-priced sunglasses to grocery and drug store chains and mass merchants. Through its Lantis Eyewear division, Personal Optics also designs and supplies sunglasses, optical frames and related eyewear accessories to multiple retail channels, ranging from value-oriented chains to premium retailers. The Company has a diverse portfolio of licenses including Dockers, ESPN, Caribbean Joe, X-Games, and Mary-Kate and Ashley.
MG ...
All the more reason to find out what that purchase at was RiteAid! My wife wears contacts.. and has a bad astigmatism, then uses cheaters with them when she is reading up close.
Yes, what did he exactly buy at RiteAid?
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SplitPants
Social climber
LA
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Aug 26, 2013 - 02:43pm PT
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NEW UPDATE FROM CRAGMAN/DEAN
"Looking down into the throat of the main gully below the glacier.....a treacherous place!!!!"
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