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kief
Trad climber
east side
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Nov 27, 2015 - 12:30pm PT
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Going into the third year of this saga I have utmost respect for Dean and his efforts but the "Citizen Search for Matthew Greene" as chronicled over on High Sierra Topix sounds like an accident waiting to happen:
"There wasn’t time enough remaining in the day to do any searching, so today was about getting settled in and acclimatizing. I took the opportunity to ask for another lesson in negotiating Class 3 rock. The boys took me up to a rockface over a nice pool they had discovered the year prior. There I practiced proper handholds and descents facing the rock."
Another one of the (five) "searchers" on that outing was the object of a SAR and heli-extraction himself a couple of years ago in Tehipite Valley after a backpacking partner cancelled out and he decided to make the trip anyway with his 14 year old son. The kid freaked out on the steep switchbacks descending from Hay Meadow and after screeing down to the Middle Fork of the Kings they decided to fish and lounge around for several days waiting to be reported overdue rather than repeat the trauma.
It's one thing for experienced people with demonstrated good judgment to be out in sketchy terrain like the Minarets trying to help bring closure to Matt's family. Other folks maybe need reminding that good intentions are the prime paving material on the road to the hot place.
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Alpineholydog
Trad climber
Spring Tx
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Nov 28, 2015 - 09:57am PT
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Perhaps I misspoke in my earlier post.
Knowing that all the potential peaks are climbed each year it might be possible to have a coordinated effort though the climbing shops in the area to pool the data from the peaks in question. No "Event" is necessary.
I agree that climbing in the area is really serious business and not at all for the new climber. Especially if the snowpack ends up high this year.
It just seems that if the area to search could be narrowed down to a particular trail then finding Matthew would be more possible.
It has occurred to me that there are likely lots of climbers out there that did not have backcountry permits for those dates. Matthew did not as far as I know.
Personally I would like to remain where I was if I was in Matthew's place but acknowledge that it is not a decision for me to make. If finding him brings his family solace then may the search by those interested proceed and hopefully bring them closure.
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LAhiker
Social climber
Los Angeles
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Nov 28, 2015 - 10:45am PT
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Alpineholydog,
That makes sense. The point of my detailed post and link was that some of the info, including photos of some of the summit registers, may already be available without any further climbing. And as you note, some registers may be at Bancroft Library, though I doubt that any recent registers from the Minarets besides maybe Clyde would be there.
For the remaining summit registers, it would be great if some person or climbing shop or whatever encouraged people who were climbing the Minarets anyway to take photos of the relevant pages. So far my appeals have not had that effect.
Because some of the Minarets are rarely climbed, they may be less fruitful sources of people who might have seen Matt.
I certainly wasn't suggesting that non-climbers attempt any Minarets! I mentioned Kehrlein because it looks like no one has checked its register to see whether Matt might have climbed it that day. When around a month ago Jimr of Maverick's group floated the theory that Matt might have intended to climb Kehrlein and Starr, Dean said he'd go check the Kehrlein register if he could. But then the snows came in.
I completely agree that the main use of the registers at this point is as a source of names of people who might have seen Matt or who might have other relevant info. For that reason I think we need to encourage climbers to photograph pages for some time around July 17th, 2013 as well as for that day.
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Alpineholydog
Trad climber
Spring Tx
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Nov 28, 2015 - 11:34am PT
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Lahiker,
We are on same page. While not as exciting as searching the back country some of this busy work might bear fruit for next year. Being in Texas I probably won't be of much help. Based on Matt's climbing history it would be possible to make a list of Summits he would have pursued and then based on those mountains attempt to find the registers and names of climbers in the area. If we could narrow the search for Matt to Ritter/Banner such as Cragman's intuition has led him, then a more thorough search of that area might be possible.
It underlines how incredible it was for Norman Clyde to find Pete Starr on Michaels Minaret in 1933. Now much harder for us with the passage of time.
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DataJunkie
climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Dec 14, 2015 - 02:04am PT
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Just a note... something just occurred to me.
I've hiked the Agnew->Shadow trail that Matthew may have taken that day (but not the Minaret Lake trail, which is another possibility). I did this very late in the season, yet I still came across about 10 people on the trail. I was the only one that was by myself, so even had I not stopped to talk to some people along the way, I think I would have stood out.
I find it strange that nobody came forward to say that they saw him on the trail that day. I feel like hikers are pretty cognizant when in the wilderness (touristy trails like Rainbow Falls are another story... nobody says hi or anything). I suppose perhaps too much time had passed maybe, but I'd imagine I'd at least remember seeing a solo hiker and their gender at the least.
The most likely outcome is that he is up in the mountains, but part of me still thinks never made it to the trail.
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
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May 30, 2016 - 09:57pm PT
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Pea-dub
Ice climber
sun diego
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Jul 16, 2016 - 10:50pm PT
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God's speed Dean
Stay off the sketchy stuff if you
are buy your self. Long time to be missing.
Don't really know what else to say.
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Jul 17, 2016 - 03:55am PT
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I recently saw picture in a post either here or on Mountain Project of a pair of mountaineering boots someone found stashed and were covered in snow. They seemed to be similar to the ones pictured in the missing person poster. About a week after seeing the picture I saw the missing person poster with the boots on it and immediately thought of the picture in the thread of the stashed boots. I thought the thread or TR was on about a trip to the Palisades or Mount Humphrys but I have been unable to find that picture since then. I'll keep looking.
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Jimr
climber
Redondo Beach, CA
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Jul 22, 2016 - 07:26pm PT
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Hi Cragman,
Any more thought about checking out Kehrlen summit register?
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zBrown
Ice climber
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Jul 22, 2016 - 07:55pm PT
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Wondering what happened is such a frustrating experience.
Kudos to Cragman for his continuing efforts and the relationship he developed with Matt's family...
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Jimr
climber
Redondo Beach, CA
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Jul 22, 2016 - 09:57pm PT
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We're going in and base camping at Deadhorse Lk. for a week and searching that whole area in Sept. I was hoping if he did bag Kehrlen and signed the register on the day he disappeared, then that would be actual, actionable evidence to start a Search and Recovery effort on an official basis.
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grover
climber
Castlegar BC
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Jul 23, 2016 - 06:51pm PT
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Anyone out there using drones for these type of searches?
Just askin.
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grover
climber
Castlegar BC
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Jul 23, 2016 - 07:45pm PT
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Point taken Dean, thanks.
What about for initial searches? Couldn't a drone expedite some searches?
Anyone out there using em?
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WBraun
climber
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Jul 23, 2016 - 08:24pm PT
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Drones will likely become more and more useful as technology gets even better.
The technology is already there and the drones are really good.
Nobody can afford the good ones.
The one good one I wanted to get for here starts at $100,000 ......
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zBrown
Ice climber
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Jul 23, 2016 - 08:46pm PT
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Damn. That's good money if you can get it.
No competitors read this page, so here's my prototype.
Much cheaper and way more effective than [can I say it?] stoopid mechancal versions.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Shetville , North of Los Angeles
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Jul 23, 2016 - 09:34pm PT
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Cragman...Rin Tin Tin...? The lead child actor from the series Rin Tin Tin was working at Vons for a while...
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Jimr
climber
Redondo Beach, CA
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Jul 25, 2016 - 03:00pm PT
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Cragman,
I often have an appropriate tune in my head that pushes me forward.
"Keep pushin' on"
"Been through the desert on a horse with no name" (Mexican border to Warner Springs)
What earks me is when I end up singing a Michael Jackson tune and can't get rid of it. Makes the day seem to never end.
Often, I'll run a chord progression through my head and visualize playing it on the guitar.
It's interesting that as long as the time signature is close to my pace, I can speed it up or slow it down to "fit".
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Alpineholydog
Trad climber
Spring Tx
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Jul 25, 2016 - 03:02pm PT
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What are the summits in the area that have registers that Matthew would have climbed?
Have all the registers been checked for the dates he was missing?
If not have those that signed the registers on those dates been contacted to see if they remember Matthew? Maybe an effort worth organizing through a local climbing shop to photograph the registers?
I know these are old and records certainly incomplete but leads if there possibly worth tracking down.
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