I am so so sorry for your loss. I can't begin to imagine how hard this is for your whole family. It's only natural to have limitless questions.
Whitney is not inherently dangerous. It's not technical. There's no boulder scrambling (at least on the section Dawson was on... Mountaineers route is much different from what I understand, but he wasn't hiking mountaineers route).
The dangers on Whitney are 1: not being prepared 2: wandering off the trail to find an "easier/more direct" route 3: altitude sickness 4: injury (of course)
I think as the investigators look more into this tragedy you may get more information. There's just no way to know how he fell. The guesses are just that... Guesses. He had to have been the last person on Summit that day, so unfortunately there probably won't ever be a definitive answer to "how".
My heart absolutely aches for you and your family.
thanks saltydog. I will fwd that pic to the investigator and see if he will mark where they think he fell..for closure I reckon. Anyone that is familiar with Whitney and the dangers of climbing it, please chime in on something that you THINK could have happened. Could he have gone to edge for a better look and slipped? Im lookin for any remote ideas...or maybe something that has happened to someone else in the past. Im not finding much on the net about past fatalities other than most are due to lack of preparation.
