Colorado climber presumed dead on Mount McKinley

TALKEETNA — A cryptic note, a last few sightings and an unconfirmed observation are all that’s left of a climber missing on Mount McKinley after search attempts were suspended Tuesday.

Gerald Myers, a doctor from Colorado, began his summit attempt at 4:30 a.m. on May 19, according to National Parks Service press releases. He was traveling with a group of three other climbers when he decided to make a solo bid for the peak. He took minimal gear and a pair of skis and left a note for his climbing partners.

“The gist of the note said, ‘I’m going to see how high I can get. Be back later,’” said Kris Fister, public affairs officer for the parks service.

There were confirmed sightings of Myers later that day, the last of which were around 18,000 to 19,000 feet. There was a report of a solo climber on the summit ridge the afternoon of May 20, but it is believed this was a different Swiss solo climber with similar gear. Myers never returned to the high camp at 17,200 feet nor the camp at 14,200 feet.

Park ranger patrols, fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters were deployed to search the mountain area and all possible ski routes. Park rangers took thousands of high-resolution photos from the air. No evidence of Myers, his gear or likely disturbances in the snow were found. After five days, active searching was suspended.

“It’s always a hard call,” Fister said. “Looking at how well we’ve searched the areas, and based on survivability with the amount of gear he had, the likelihood that he survived is nonexistent.”

Maureen McLaughlin, public information officer for the parks service, said there are a number of soloists who attempt the mountain each year. The rangers advise against taking minimum gear, McLaughlin said, but it’s not uncommon for people to disregard their advice. Some climbers feel climbing with less weight means they can go faster and avoid problems.

“We advise people to prepare for the worst in the event a fast storm comes in,” McLaughlin said. “Traveling light is a risk climbers take.”

Skis are more uncommon, but there are some who do it every year, McLaughlin said. She said skiing the descent is very difficult and definitely a formidable challenge.

Fister said rangers are still looking over the pictures and will keep on the look out for Myers if they have other missions and when out on regular patrols. They will continue the search as the opportunities become available.

“When we scale back the search and are not actively flying, at that point we presume him deceased,” McLaughlin said. “We’ve looked at all the factors in the case. We can assume even in the best case he could not survive.”

At this point, a family member usually files for a petition of presumptive death with the District Court in Palmer, said clerk of court Teresa Shaw. The court will then get the relevant information from the parks service, go through the reports and set up a witness list.

The information goes in front of a panel of six jurors who decide if the person can be presumed deceased or not. If the jury decides yes, a presumptive death certificate is issued.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.