Missing friend in Mammoth Lakes area

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PAUL SOUZA

Trad climber

Central Valley, CA

Aug 27, 2013 - 10:19am PT

What about rock shoes or approach shoes?

Could indicate if he was planning to do some scrambling or soloing.

OutdoorGal

Social climber

Lehigh Valley, PA

Aug 27, 2013 - 10:22am PT

Is anyone following up on interviewing these folks, who posted on one of the threads on the Facebook page (the thread with Matt's photos in the dress shirt and diamond-pattern tie) that they had stayed at the campground with Matt in the days leading up to the disappearance and actually interacted with him? There is even indication that he might have shown them his hiking guide and where he was planning to go. What this case needs is a more concrete lead on where to search. Could this be it?

Connie Silva: We saw him on Saturday my other son said he saw him Sunday night [They are talking about the weekend before Matt disappeared]

Connie Silva: Yes Sunday before he disappeared he talked to my son Arnold and showed him in the book where he planned on going . He was waiting for his car to b fixed he said they were giving him the run around

Arnold Morales: I saw him on friday night 13th. My brother stayed until Monday and is trying to remember.

Arnold Morales: Me and my family spent the last days before he went missing. We might be able to help. Contact me.

Arnold Morales posted this on his own FB page: I met him during my camping trip to mammoth. He loved to climb he loved to teach he loved his life. I can't believe how life is I am truly sad tonight. [Posted with a link to an article about Matt on gma.yahoo.com]

crankster

Trad climber

South Lake Tahoe, CA

Aug 27, 2013 - 10:29am PT

It's a frustrating case, so not surprised we'd be getting frustrating posts.

What I know:

Matt went missing late July 16. Had been waiting around Mammoth 10 days or so for car repair. Had been climbing classic routes from Secor, most with snow/ice. Did some with friends, most solo since friends left. Must have used public transportation or hitched to travel to Tuolumne in YNP. No photos seem to exist or they are on Matt's red camera that is with him. Items he is thought to have with him are from friends & family's recollection after going through remaining gear. Obviously, he had light hikers in addition to big, yellow La Sportiva's. It is quite possible he had more personal gear than what is listed, but friends seem to have a good fix on his inventory from camping with him for long periods. + he is a simple guy. No indication he was planning an overnight climb.

He was in his tent at 6pm on July 16, going to sleep at 9pm, according to last text. No further word - no note, no other clue except missing torn pages from Secor Sierra book. Cell phone received text close to 3 am on the 17th. No verified sighting by shuttle driver, YARTS driver, nobody has reported picking him up as a hitchhiker. Camp host, neighboring campers, no help. No sightings on trails. Nothing. Possible sighting in Minden dead end. Found reading glasses at Inyo Craters dead end. Search by SAR with helicopter dead end. Noble searches by Cragman, et al, dead end, no trace.

If we rule out the possibility that he staged his disappearance - and I have - everything I know leads me to believe Matt had a climbing accident in the mountains near Mammoth, likely the Ritter/Banner Minaret's Range. He was outfitted with gear for moderate snow & ice, not steeper terrain that required 2 tools. He wasn't the type to go "mess around" or go glissading, he was a climber that headed for established routes and summits.

I'll monitor the thread in hopes of further clues. Otherwise, a final offer of condolences to family and friends. A school in PA is missing a great person and teacher.

SplitPants

Social climber

Aug 27, 2013 - 10:32am PT

All,
I have read through the posts from last night and this morning. I am currently researching an easier method to compile and organize the most pertinent information that has been shared to this forum thread. The document that I created and have been maintaining has gone out to a few people for review/feedback.

Things get lost when a thread grows to over 1,000k posts and I would like for us to have a dedicated space for organizing and updating facts etc.....

If anyone has ideas let me know. Right now I am looking at creating a free google site. The solution needs to be FREE, userfriendly and we need to control person(s) that have the ability to add/change/delete FACTS.

Tx

HighTraverse

Trad climber

Bay Area

Aug 27, 2013 - 10:48am PT

Only four quick morning comments.
Regarding eliminating places Matt may have gone:

1. Matts previous climbs in the area (which we have a list of)

"climbs" is too broad a category.
We know he climbed the Clyde and Michael Minarets. Which routes? We don't know. There are 4 that Matt could have climbed or attempted solo on Clyde and possibly 2 on Michael. He would not have attempted the SE Face solo, it would have been a tough climb for him with a partner. Most of those peaks have more than one possible route for Matt.

Crevasses and bergschrunds and other places a full grown man can vanish into.
We have photos from Tom Cochrane and Dean that show bergschrunds big enough to capture a man. Without a skilled and equipped team they cannot be explored safely. One could argue they can't be explored safely by any means. Looking into them from the top might be possible.

I was taken by Dean's photo down the deep gully above Iceberg lake (there are at least two gullies)
Until yesterday, I had assumed they were not snow filled. Now we see they are, at least at the top. This is important new information.
If Matt slipped into one of them, he might have gone all the way down to Iceberg Lake.

Based on what we now know, it is extremely unlikely the glasses are Matts.

Dean: well done….again.

Klimmer

Mountain climber

Aug 27, 2013 - 11:13am PT

Ignore the psychic if you want fine.

Don't ignore all the dreams from people closely connected to Matt in some way. (And some very strong believers also who care a great deal and have shared their experiences bravely to a hostile ST crowd at times. Pretty brave of all of them to do so.) All overlapping and too coincidental. Too powerful. All experiencing something very similar.

I suspect foul play at this time very strongly. He would have been seen by a driver, at the parking lot for the trail, at the trail-head, on the trail, in the BC climbing. No one has come forward that has seen him. Nobody has seen him. In the night of July 16 or early morning of July 17 near his camp its seems he just vanished. No trace.

There's a lot of strong intuition going on by many. Listen to it. Pay attention. I suspect the one who knows what happened to Matt is close-by.

TomCochrane

Trad climber

Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay

Aug 27, 2013 - 11:41am PT

it would well to maintain a more Timid attitude...there are other threads on supertopo that are more appropriate to discuss philosophical levels of awareness

fluffy

Trad climber

Colorado

Aug 27, 2013 - 11:48am PT

I don't think this is helpful.

May be time to give it a rest Klimmer.

PAUL SOUZA

Trad climber

Central Valley, CA

Aug 27, 2013 - 11:53am PT

One of the most important things I have learned in recent years is to trust and stick with my initial instincts.

In the case of Matt, he took off to bag something and had an accident. Just because nothing is turning up, doesn't mean that he was the victim of foul play. Like Werner and Dean have stated as two highly experienced SAR guys, sometimes you won't find a person in the mountains until you step on them.

We should focus on the backcountry to maximize time before the winter storms come in.

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Aug 27, 2013 - 11:57am PT

Isn't it time for a big collective breathe-into-a-paper-bag? To reprise
QITNL's logical and cogent post - ya got nothing so it is just gonna come
down to a lucky break. If it was foul play MLPD is really gonna need a
lucky break; they've all they can handle keeping tabs on Rottingjohnny.
If he fell into a crevasse then he was far from the best climber to do so.
Some of my scariest experiences have been getting from the lip of a
bergschrund onto the rock, with a rope. As Werner noted weeks ago at this
point you could walk within 20' of his remains and never notice them.

SplitPants

Social climber

Aug 27, 2013 - 11:58am PT

Ron/Tiffany/Matt's climbing friends

Can anyone answer the following:

1. What type of trail or hiking shoes Matt was wearing (same as those in the picture with his car?
2. Were his trek poles missing or with the gear picked up from his car or campsite?

I am asking as the more I look at the picture of him with his car it appears we have items unaccounted for.

Any insight would be great.

Thanks.

SplitPants

Social climber

Aug 27, 2013 - 12:19pm PT

Mammoth Times just posted a new article

http://mammothtimes.com/content/update-aug-26-search-missing-man-continues

tdg119

Social climber

Northampton, PA

Aug 27, 2013 - 01:09pm PT

same shoes as in the picture. trek poles are accounted for.

SplitPants

Social climber

Aug 27, 2013 - 01:11pm PT

Tiffany/Ron,

Thanks for the response. Will update accordingly. Thanks

PAUL SOUZA

Trad climber

Central Valley, CA

Aug 27, 2013 - 01:25pm PT

I haven't been keeping up with the details of this thread in depth, but the idea that I have observed is that Matt fell while climbing a route. Well, what about the DESCENT route for various objectives??

Often it is the approach and the descent where most accidents occur because we are complacent since the terrain is usually easier than our anticipated objective. 95% of the time when I have been sketched out the most was on the descent. We are often tired and complacent and are likely to get off route, especially at night.

Alpineholydog

Trad climber

Spring Tx

Aug 27, 2013 - 01:52pm PT

Matt is out there. We will not forget about him. We will find him. Great work and effort Cragman!

Ihateplastic

Trad climber

It ain't El Cap, Oregon

Aug 27, 2013 - 02:04pm PT

While these efforts are indeed noble and deserved I wonder (as a result of this situation and others similar over the years) how long until Forest Service and Park Service departments start dictating that location beacons are mandatory once you leave the parking lot.

A lot of worry, dismay, and effort could have been saved for $299