Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Avalanche fatality: Mike Meyers

Condolences to the family. The post is worth reading. A very generous and sincere appreciation of the community that does its best to support all its hiker members and their families.

This is very sad. My condolences to Michael's family and friends.

Thank you to everyone who helped gather information and to the SAR teams for their tireless and effective work.

LA Times report:

UCLA grad student killed in avalanche in California wilderness

The body of missing UCLA grad student Michael David Meyers has been found by search-and-rescue personnel in the Mt. Whitney area, his mother said

The body of a UCLA graduate student who went missing earlier this month was found Saturday, buried in snow after an avalanche came crashing down in the John Muir Wilderness.

Search-and-rescue crews used sonar technology to find Michael David Meyers, 25, under the 60- to 70-foot-long avalanche area, said Inyo County Sheriff William Lutze. Meyers suffered massive injuries, including broken bones, during his fall, he said.

"It's like being in a head-on accident at 100 mph," Lutze said.

The last time anyone heard from Meyers was on Nov. 5, when he texted his roommate to say he was going to Mt. Russell in Inyo National Forest.

At the time, the area was slammed by a winter storm. The mountains were blanketed with heavy snows and 100 mph winds blew through the canyons, he said.

Avalanches are not unusual for the area, especially after heavy snow builds up and forms a cornice, sending overhanging snow crashing down. Navigating dense, snow-packed mountains requires skill and experience and should only be attempted in pairs, the sheriff said. Fatalities are not uncommon. "If it doesn't look safe, it's not safe," Lutze said.

According to authorities, Meyers was an experienced hiker and climber. He enjoyed cold weather camping and had drawn up a detailed itinerary for his travel, Lutze said. Search-and-rescue crews used the itinerary to track his movements.

About 40 searchers from throughout California started looking for Meyers on Nov. 18 after a local resident spotted a vehicle parked under trees and heavy snow on a service road.

Authorities confirmed the vehicle belonged to Meyers.

Aided by a California Highway Patrol helicopter and a California National Guard Boeing CH-47 Chinook, crews set off the next day to search. On Friday, volunteers found a helmet and a beanie below the avalanche's path. Authorities believed the items belonged to Meyers.

The next day, crews used sonar equipment along the patch of avalanche to find Meyers' body.

Meyers' death was felt by the entire UCLA community, the university said in a statement. Meyers, a Minnesota native, was studying physics.

UCLA will offer counseling resources to students and staff mourning his death.

"We join together in offering our deepest condolences to all of Michael's family and friends," the university said in a statement.

KTLA-5 Report

Missing UCLA Student’s Body Found Buried Under Avalanche in John Muir Wilderness

Posted 11:41 AM, November 23, 2015, by Tracy Bloom, Updated at 01:58pm, November 23, 2015

An Inyo County’s coroner’s office official confirmed Monday that the body of a missing UCLA graduate student was found in the Sierra Nevada mountains over the weekend, and authorities and his mother said he was discovered in an avalanche area.

Michael Meyers was found dead shortly before 1:30 p.m. Saturday, about 11,000 feet up in the mountains in an area of the John Muir Wilderness, according to Deputy Coroner Investigator Jeff Mullenhour.

Meyers, an experienced hiker and climber, was hiking the area by himself. He was due back in Los Angeles on Nov. 11, according to his family.

The UCLA physics student was driving a Dodge SUV, which was discovered Thursday at the Mount Whitney trailhead.

Items belonging to Meyers were found Friday in a recent avalanche debris field near Mount Irvine, the Los Angeles Police Department stated in a brief update to the initial request for help finding the young man. Mount Irvine, at 13,770 feet, is about 2 miles southeast of 14,505-foot Mount Whitney.

Using a dog team and sonar, search-and-rescue crews found the 25-year-old man’s body on Saturday.

His mother told KTLA that he was the victim of an avalanche that occurred on Nov. 9, something the Inyo County Sheriff later confirmed to the Los Angeles Times.

Sheriff William Lutze told the newspaper that Meyers was found buried under a 60- to 70-foot-long avalanche area.

He suffered major injuries during his fall, which Lutze described as being like “in a head-on accident at 100 mph.”

The last time anyone heard from Lutze was on Nov. 5, when he texted his roommate to tell him he was hiking Mount Russell, which is north of Mount Whitney.

The area was hit with winter weather conditions — including heavy snow and winds with speeds of up to 100 mph in canyon areas — at the time, the Times reported.

The coroner’s office has not yet determined a cause of death, Mullenhour said, adding that an autopsy was still pending.

The federally managed wilderness area encompasses about 650,000 acres, about 100 miles along Sierra Nevada crest.

Wow, very sad to hear, especially about someone so young, apparently very bright, and starting his adult life. Condolences to the grieving family.

Here's a picture from Instagram posted by "bentopia" on Nov 20.

Here is the Inyo SAR report:

http://inyosar.com/search-in-meysan-lakes-area-avalanche-fatality/

Scroll down for another report from the Eastern Sierra Avalanche site.

Thanks, Bob.

Here is the Gmap4 map of the location. Click to open a new window.


Open this map full screen.

I received an email from Michael's mom and dad a week ago.

They are asking the hiking community for help if anyone can -- here's some of what she wrote:


Sheriff's office in Lone Pine: 726 N Main St, Lone Pine, CA 93545   Phone:(760) 876-5606

More info: The GPS unit is a Garmin GPSMap 62s. Ice axe: Black Diamond Raven 70 cm.

Steve: Might be worth posting at Mt Whitney FB: MT Whitney Fb Group Also IAVC might hang a notice or something for anyone picking up a Mesan Lake TH permit.

I'll post it in several Facebook groups.

HighSierra Topix has a post here.