Utah climber missing in Alaska
I just got this email from the National Park Service; it's a long read, but worth it as a lesson in the way search and rescue operations work. Tragic story.
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On Tuesday, May 4, Jason Harper hired an air taxi to drop him off at Windy
Ridge for a climb of 16,237 Mt. Sanford, located in the northern portion
of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. When pilot Harley
McMahan returned to pick him up at the appointed time on Sunday May 9,
Harper did not show up. McMahan searched the immediate area on the ground,
and completed aerial searches for several days.
On Wednesday, May 12, McMahan notified the National Park Service about
Harpers missing status. An immediate investigation was launched in the
air and on the ground. In the ensuing days, Alaska State Troopers,
National Park Service, the Rescue Coordination Center of the Air National
Guard, volunteer mountain rescue teams, and volunteer climbers joined in
the search effort. Sergeant Duane Stone served as co-Incident Commander
with Park Ranger/Search and Rescue Coordinator Pete Dalton, and Trooper
Kenneth Acton served as a liaison and technical advisor to the Incident
Command Team. Park Ranger/Pilot Rich Richotte served as air and ground
operations coordinator. While NPS pilots flew the climbing route and
possible exit routes, Harpers car was located and inventoried. The Rescue
Coordination Center was notified, and a Pavehawk helicopter with C-130
fixed-wing aircraft support responded Wednesday evening.
The Harper family had planned a reunion in Salt Lake City on May 12. When
Jason Harper did not arrive, Jasons father Doug, and Jasons brother (also
Doug) flew the same day to Anchorage, arriving at the Incident Command
Center for the search in Gulkana that evening.
On Thursday, May 13, an NPS fixed-wing aircraft and McMahans fixed-wing
aircraft flew numerous search patters along the Mt. Sanford climbing route
and possible off-routes and escape routes. Meanwhile, the Pavehawk
helicopter, equipped with forward-looking infrared, flew the climbing route
to the summit; they found some evidence of previous climbing parties, none
linked to Harper. More helicopter resources were ordered to intensify the
search.
Friday, May 14, an NPS fixed-wing aircraft made numerous passes over
possible escape routes from the mountain toward the Copper River and along
Boulder Creek; Harpers father was flown over the climbing route. A
contracted helicopter flew low level searches along the snow and ice
portions of the route and off-route possibilities. A contract
high-elevation Denali rescue helicopter shuttled a team of four climbers to
above the icefall on the Sheep Glacier; the team traveled down through the
icefall. They could not safely approach many of the crevasses for visual
inspection, and were then extracted. A State Trooper helicopter responded
to the search effort with two sets of search dog teams.
On Saturday, May 15, the search dog teams, from the Mountain Rescue Unit in
Anchorage, were flown to Windy Ridge airstrip, where Harper had been
dropped off to begin his climb. The teams made a visual search of the area
while the dogs sniffed for human scent. Tracks found leading downhill from
Windy Ridge faded. The search dog teams were returned to Incident Command
Center at the Gulkana Hanger, and then were transported back home to
Anchorage.
The Denali climbing team flew reconnaissance of the climbing route. Joe
Reichert headed up the four-person Denali team; Kevin and Matt Smith,
accomplished climbers from McCarthy, joined the team. The six climbers
were flown to the vicinity of the icefall on the Sheep Glacier. They split
up into two teams, headed by Joe and Matt, to search the upper and lower
sections around the icefall. That afternoon the lower team found a base
camp that Harper had made during his summit attempt. Harper made his camp,
probably on Tuesday, May 4, in a snow shelter built by a climbing party
several weeks before. He then left most of his camping gear secured in the
snow shelter, and headed up the mountain in a presumed fast, light, one-day
summit attempt. He carried an ice axe, crampons, 40 meters of rope,
shovel, and some other gear. Harper did not return, and in the ensuing
days the shelter collapsed, making it undetectable from the air.
Sunday, May 16, was the last day of intensive searching for Harper; it had
been 12 days since he was last seen. Winds rose and a cloud cap moved in
over Mt. Sanford, as the climbing parties were extracted by helicopter from
the Sheep Glacier. The two helicopters scanned the climbing route above
Harpers base camp and an NPS fixed-wing aircraft flew the route. All
aircraft returned to base as the weather deteriorated. The Denali Rangers
and the high-elevation Lama rescue helicopter were released to Denali. The
State Trooper helicopter was released to Anchorage. Harpers father and
brother flew home.
Park Rangers plan to fly higher portions of the climbing route during
future patrols, as snow conditions change on Mt. Sanford.
