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ddsstyle
Sport climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Hi guys,
I am a maintenance worker at Devils Postpile NM. I ride the shuttle bus every day from Mammoth to work at the Postpile. My birthday is july 16th. I was on the first bus of the day at 7:15 that morning. I think there is a possibility that I saw Matthew that morning. There is also a possibility this interaction occurred on the 11 or 12 of july. The person I spoke with fits his description very well. He was wearing glasses on the bus and told me about how his subaru blew a head gasket. He said he had been in Mammoth for several days. He had a medium sized day pack. No gear was attached to the outside. I believe he said he was from the east coast. maybe PA or NY... We spoke about doing Ritter, Banner, Clyde, and the cross country hike between Ediza, Iceberg, Cecile, and Minaret lake. He was unclear of his itinerary for the day when he got of the bus at Devils Postpile. Can anyone confirm any info for me such as his hometown, if he wore glasses, and if he did indeed drive a subaru? There is also a possibility that this interaction occurred on the bus a few days prior, like on july 11 or 12. The reason that I feel the interaction may have happened a few days prior to the 16th is that I think I recall talking about how I was going to do Middle Palisade on the 14th...I just cant be sure when the interaction took place, which is killing me right now... I am leaning more towards prior to the 16th. Can anyone say if he had been day tripping into the reds meadow valley in the days prior to his disappearance? His photo and physical build jumped right out at me. The fact about the car also jumped out at me. My gut and the facts presented tells me Matthew is the person I had this interaction with, and that is occurred prior to the 16th. I just cant place the exact date. I have been in contact with the Mono County Sheriff... sending good vibes to all his family and friends...
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ddsstyle
Sport climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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I just saw the pic posted above. I am certain my interaction was with Matthew... again I just cant place the date...the more I think about it, the more I remember talking about DOING middle palisade on the 14th. The more I think, the more I feel our interaction happened prior to my bday on the 16th. I think I am just conflicted on dates because since it was my bday, it is jumping out at me for some weird reason. again I have contacted the Mono County Sheriff and hope to god this turns out good.
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TeddyKGBee
Trad climber
Chester Springs
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 2, 2013 - 08:39pm PT
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ddsstyle-
It sounds like you most certainly did talk with Matt. I am sharing this info with others involved. Thank you so much for this information and sharing as it helps to identify some possible plans. I can't thank you enough.
Tom
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ddsstyle
Sport climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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no problem. I am sharing this with everyone that I know in mammoth that hikes and with everyone that works at the Postpile. I am considering doing ritter or banner on my day off sunday so i'll check registers as well.
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TeddyKGBee
Trad climber
Chester Springs
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 2, 2013 - 08:59pm PT
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dd-
I just got confirmation that Matt was on the bus on the 11th and climbed Clyde Mineret that day. When you talked with him, was he looking for beta on clyde or did he talk about having done it. It's possible that he did another hike out that way on the 16th. The 17th is the day he went missing. Were you by chance on the bus that day?
Tom
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TeddyKGBee
Trad climber
Chester Springs
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 2, 2013 - 09:28pm PT
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SAR just rechecked the guidebook and Ritter and Banner were torn out. Matt always does this right before his trip. I feel confident that he was going there. We really need to check that log book. If anyone is going there or could go tomorrow, that would be extremely helpful.
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ruppell
climber
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Mono county SAR has a really good team. I know some of them check this site. I'd say that having those pages missing in all that is needed to at least mount a small search. If the pages from Lyell where still there that narrows it down for me. Best of luck in getting the search started. There's so many ways to go up there it will be a needle in a haystack type thing but at least make the effort I say.
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Leggs
Sport climber
Tucson, AZ
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Oh goodness...
positive energy... positive thoughts...
positive energy ... positive thoughts...
~peace
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Powder
Trad climber
the Flower Box
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^^^^^ x 10000
Wishing & hoping for a positive outcome...
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TeddyKGBee
Trad climber
Chester Springs
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 2, 2013 - 10:09pm PT
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Lyell pages were untouched. Ritter/Banner were only snow routes in the area of torn pages and Matt was geared for snow. All signs are pointing to Ritter right now. I'll post any other info that I get.
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
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Hey Teddy -
Hoping for the best. Reading this bit from the article linked above gives hope:
"It's not like I heard from him every week," she said, describing her son as a loner who loved being in the wild.
"He just kind of liked to do his own thing," she said, adding that he lives by himself in Bethlehem.
Hornbeck said Greene would often go off on a hike and not return phone or other messages until he emerged a week or so later.
Pulling for you, Matthew.
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ddsstyle
Sport climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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I am climbing up to the snowfield (possibly more) at Ritter tomorrow with two other SAR members. I will keep you posted
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TeddyKGBee
Trad climber
Chester Springs
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 3, 2013 - 12:17am PT
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Thank you, dd. That's great news. Best of luck and be safe. You're a really great person for doing this.
Tom
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Roxy
Trad climber
CA Central Coast
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))) sending positive energy (((
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
extraordinaire
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I am climbing Ritter tomorrow with two other SAR members ... It goes without saying -- be careful out there.
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Fletcher
Trad climber
The great state of advaita
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All the best to you in your search and to Matt!
Eric
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Risk
Mountain climber
Olympia, WA
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For what it’s worth – three separate near-misses I have had in the area:
1) Ritter Pass, or maybe we were off-route – hard Class 3 traverse at the top; we backed off.
2) The bergschrund /calving snowfield on the south side of Lake Catherine. Nearly slipped into this one once on a solo trip.
3) The iced snowfield way, way above Upper Marie Lake; if up there, the shear cliff below is unseen when perilously crossing the slippery and icy snowfield.
There’s a lot of places up there prone to mishap. Best wishes for a happy conclusion to this story.
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TeddyKGBee
Trad climber
Chester Springs
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 3, 2013 - 09:35am PT
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Latest update-
There is a group going to Lyell today to check the summit register. dd and a group of SAR members are heading to Ritter. Also, the helicopter got the green light!!! All of you that have provided information here and in other forums, thank you! Please know that the support and and knowledge of the climbing community really helped to make all of this happen. Being back on the east coast makes this very hard for me and many of Matt's friends and family. Thanks to all of you, those 3000 miles don't seem quite as far. Thank you!
Tom
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FRUMY
Trad climber
Bishop,CA
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bump
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Leggs
Sport climber
Tucson, AZ
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bump
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