Latest Update, Dec. 11th, 2019: Following a very lengthy multiagency search (beginning Nov 29) for missing hiker Rolin Bruno, which included aerial reconnaissance, drone, canine, and ground teams, an operational decision was made on December 10 (evening) to enter into “limited continuous search mode”. This means that the SAR is not suspended, rather it is […]
Category Archives: 2019
Lamarck Col Search
On November 4 (evening), Inyo County Sheriff’s Office received notification of a missing hiker. The reporting party said that a 40-year old man from Huntington Beach had planned on hiking somewhere out of the Bishop area on Sunday but failed to return home on Monday. The missing man, who was described as an experienced hiker, […]
Mt. Sill North Couloir Fatality
Two 23-year-old climbers were descending the L-shaped snowfield below Mt. Sill’s North Couloir in the late afternoon of October 20, 2019. Both were wearing helmets and crampons and using ice axes to descend the extremely firm, sun-cupped, late-season snow. One of the climbers slipped and tumbled approximately 400 feet, destroying his helmet and sustaining unknown […]
Lost Hikers and Broken Arm on Mt. Emerson (IWI)
In the late afternoon of September 15, 2019, hikers on the Piute Pass Trail outside of Bishop, CA reported to the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office that they heard calls for help and saw people waving their arms on the rugged Southeast Face of Mt. Emerson. The Sheriff’s Office dispatched two Inyo County Search and Rescue […]
Mountaineer’s Route Broken Leg
In the late afternoon of August 24, 2019, a 27-year-old female was descending the Mountaineer’s Gully on Mt. Whitney after summiting the peak via the same route with her climbing party. At about 13,900 feet, near the top of the gully, the female dislodged an approximately 2,000-pound, three-foot-diameter boulder which rolled over her entire body, […]