Finger lake in the foreground with the NE face of Middle Palisade visible in the top right corner
On the evening of Saturday, August 18 ICSO SAR coordinators received multiple reports of a deceased subject located on the NE face of Middle Palisade in the Sierra Nevada mountains. CHP helicopter resources were requested for the following morning but were not available until approximately 1400. A hasty team of two Inyo SAR members was sent out of the south fork of Big Pine creek Sunday morning and arrived at the subject shortly after H80. The individual was located around approximately 13,000 ft in steep class 3 terrain and appeared to have taken a tumbling fall. The subject’s last communication was with family around 1520 on Friday, August 17 and it was estimated that he fell later that evening. In his final communication with family, the subject indicated that he was moving more slowly than his anticipated pace, potentially resulting in his ascent/descent occurring in the dark and increasing the inherent danger of the route. Inyo SAR rescuers packaged the subject and he was hoisted out by H80 around 1800 on Sunday. Rescuers were transported back to Bishop airport via H80.
Photo taken from the site of the recovery depicting the steep and loose terrain of the NE Face