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Happiegrrrl2
Trad climber
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Nov 23, 2015 - 02:30pm PT
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Sincere condolences to family and friends.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Nov 23, 2015 - 02:30pm PT
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60- to 70-foot-long avalanche area
What in the world are they talking about?
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SC seagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, A sailboat, or some time zone
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Nov 23, 2015 - 03:36pm PT
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My heart aches for this young man and his family.
Susan
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Nov 23, 2015 - 03:39pm PT
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That East Chute that goes up between Irvine and Mallory is weird. It's a nice strip of snow between two dark rock walls. Craig Morris and I went up that to bag those peaks early in the cool morning. Coming back down with the sun radiating heat off the left side wall, it got really hot in there and the snow was scary. We encountered several horizontal fractures one to two inches wide which were not there in the morning.
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Roots
Mountain climber
Tustin, CA
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Nov 23, 2015 - 04:08pm PT
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Rest in Peace
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Mad Max
Trad climber
Bakersfield
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Nov 23, 2015 - 04:33pm PT
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KVSAR sent one of our guys up there to help, Brian Block.
Glad they recovered him, sad but it brings closure to see the body.
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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Nov 23, 2015 - 04:50pm PT
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It is easy to underestimate avy potential in the sierra and SoCal
edit: if the slope goes "whoomp", it is time to pay attention.
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mattyj
Mountain climber
Truckee
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Nov 23, 2015 - 09:22pm PT
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I've been watching this thread develop since I was paged to make the long drive down to Lone Pine and assist with the search. And while I would love nothing more than to address some of the questions and speculation here, it's totally not my place to do so, regardless of how innocuous the information may seem. As frustrating as it is, most people who were there are going to be in the same boat.
At some more appropriate point, the Inyo Sheriff will likely release additional details. And honestly, by then, most of us will have moved on, the answers we're now dying to make sense of no longer seeming so urgent. Until then, picking apart the smallest details of hastily written and often questionably accurate news articles does no one any good.
Personally, I've gone back and forth on whether to say anything at all. Started writing several posts, stared at them for a long time and then deleted them. Sometimes it's best to just keep quiet. But if only as a way of healing, I can't.
Michael, you didn't know me and I didn't know you. Maybe that makes me unqualified to speak. It would feel presumptuous to opine on the life you lived, to call you a member of the "tribe", to imply that I know you to any greater depth than the paper cutout I've read about in the news.
Regardless, I'd like to think that there might be some peace to be found in your final journey from the mountains. You didn't take it alone; there were 30 people alongside you who, while they may not have known you, walked away from their jobs and their family to help find you and bring you home. Meysan Lake was shaded and cold, but as soon as the helicopter took off we found ourselves chasing warm sunshine down canyon and over the portal. I know you couldn't actually see anything, but the Chinook's ramp was down and the beauty of the Eastern Sierra on full display in front of you.
The pilot made a large banked turn into his final approach into Lone Pine; as the helicopter rolled over like a roller coaster, I cracked a large grin. Then I remembered you were lying at my feet, and sobered up. Does that make me unprofessional? A bad person? Or simply human? I'd like to think it's a good thing that we can see joy and beauty in the world, even at a moment like that.
If your family ever reads this, they have my deepest sympathies. If it provides even the smallest of consolations to them, the end of your life will have pushed me to live mine more fully.
RIP
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LAhiker
Social climber
Los Angeles
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 23, 2015 - 10:33pm PT
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Mattyj, thank you to you and the other hardworking SAR people who found Michael. Thanks also for this beautiful post.
While I hope the Sheriff releases more info at some point, I completely understand that you and your fellow searchers can't say more.
My condolences to Michael's family and friends.
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GDavis
Social climber
SOL CAL
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Nov 23, 2015 - 10:36pm PT
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Great post matty. Drink life in, that is what it is there for.
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Bob Harrington
climber
Bishop, California
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Nov 24, 2015 - 07:12am PT
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Beautifully said, Matt.
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Roughster
Sport climber
Vacaville, CA
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Nov 24, 2015 - 10:03am PT
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Beautiful post Matty. Thank you.
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toejahm
Trad climber
Chatsworth, CA
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Nov 24, 2015 - 10:42am PT
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Well put Mattyj,
My condolences to Michael's loved ones.
RIP
Ken
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overwatch
climber
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Nov 24, 2015 - 10:50am PT
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Yeah I would say you honored us all (humans) with that post.
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pud
climber
Sportbikeville & Yucca brevifolia
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Nov 24, 2015 - 10:53am PT
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I can only wish for the same send off.
Rest in Peace young man.
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anneke
Trad climber
Monterey, CA
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Nov 30, 2015 - 12:25pm PT
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Thanks to mattyj for an eloquent statement of SAR work. I'm on the Monterey SAR team, and we participate in MRA mutual aid missions as well. The combination of joy and sober dedication in the work that mattyj expresses is very real. Especially in cases like this. I'm glad that technology was useful for finding the body under all that snow, though I wish the outcome had been different. Thank you for your work. RIP Michael.
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