Rescuers searched Mount Whitney on Saturday for a Texas man who went missing while attempting to summit the notoriously difficult peak in frigid snow.
According to the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office, Taylor Rodriguez, 29, of San Antonio, despite icy roads, dire weather forecasts and what friends say is the only experience she can get at an indoor climbing gym. , I left alone on Monday.
The search continues at Mount Whitney for missing hiker Taylor Rodriguez. Taylor Rodriguez is described as 5-foot-9, weighing about 160 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. The man went missing after apparently attempting to climb Mount Whitney on Monday.
(Niyo County Search and Rescue)
“Many of us don’t understand why he would get in his car and drive up to the Whitney and do it on a whim,” said Susana Guerra, a family friend and veteran hiker who has climbed the mountain many times. said. “He’s a very smart kid, really smart, but it’s hard to understand what he’s thinking.”
Family and friends contacted the sheriff’s office Thursday after not hearing from Rodriguez. Authorities found the truck he drove from Texas in a parking lot near the trailhead.
A team of Inyo County Search and Rescue volunteers had planned to search for Rodriguez on the main Mount Whitney trail, then explore a more difficult route known as the Mountaineer’s Trail. Department of Security spokeswoman Lindsey Stein said crews hope to use a helicopter in the search, depending on wind conditions.
In the five days since Rodriguez disappeared, nighttime temperatures have fallen into the low teens and winds gusted over 80 mph on Friday.
“Right now, they’re still searching for him as if he were alive,” Stein said, adding, “Some people have gone missing and survived for days at a time.”
Mount Whitney is the highest point in the United States outside of Alaska, at 14,405 feet. During the warmer months, hikers have been known to make 20-mile round trip trips in fleece jackets and hiking boots for some years. It is extremely popular from May to November, with approximately 100,000 people entering the permit lottery each year.
In winter, the situation can change significantly. Waist-deep snow, ice fields, avalanches, and the risk of hypothermia and frostbite make this mountain a much more dangerous place. Dave Miller, a professional mountain guide who has summited the Whitney 80 times, said climbers are usually veterans who know the route well and are equipped with crampons, ice axes, helmets and ropes.
“Only experienced people who use skis to get down faster would try to do that on a winter day,” Miller says.
Rodriguez and his dog Dutch in 2015.
(Melanie Jaramillo)
Mr. Rodriguez, who is trained in petroleum engineering and construction, has no backcountry experience and only started climbing at an indoor gym in recent months, according to people familiar with him.
“He was a very good hunter. His family lives on a ranch with cattle, so the outdoors is one thing, but climbing…no,” said Melanie Jaramillo, who dated Rodriguez in high school and stayed in touch. said.
He is believed to have set out on the trail at 1 a.m. that morning, planning to summit and return later that day. It’s unclear whether he brought crampons or other equipment to navigate the icy roads, or how much he researched the route or conditions.
Jaramillo’s sister, Guerra, has climbed the Whitney eight times and said she had to be rescued last spring even though she understood the terrain. She said it was difficult to imagine Rodriguez in the snow and darkness.
“He couldn’t get very far,” she said.
Jaramillo said his high school friends who knew him as a star football player and student at Southwest High School are in a state of shock and sadness.
“This man was not stupid,” she said.
Rodriguez is 5-foot-9 and approximately 160 pounds. The Sheriff’s Department is asking hikers who encountered him on the trail Monday through Thursday or have any other information that may help locate him to call (760) 878-0383. I’m calling you to call.
Source link
