Zippo Found - 5/28/00

Mike Golay called this message in at 7am PST on 5/29/00.

Mike and the Jeffs left camp at 10,400 ft on the West side of the bluffs in Cascade Gulch at 8:30am on 5/28/00. Bruce and Em were close behind.

As Mike and Jeff H. neared the chopper crash site, Em slowed to check on Bruce, who wasn't feeling well. Mike and the Jeffs continued up the route in strong winds, 25mph gusting to 40mph, to the col. Two climbers were to our left, climbing higher on the route.

At approximately 10am Mike and the Jeffs crested the col at 11,900 ft in very strong winds. Our initial objective was to climb Shastina and possibly have a look at the Whitney Glacier, which Bruce and Em planned to search. However, with the wind blowing very strong Mike and the Jeffs quickly decided to simply climb over the col, take a quick look and head down. We took some quick photos, Mike buried a memento - apologies for environmental incorrectness - a Zippo lighter, just over the col.

The two climbers previously mentioned were sitting directly above us on some rocks. Our backs were to the north side of the mountain - we were facing away from the route up to the summit. One of the two climbers, as we packed to descend, pointed to a spot in the middle of the wide, open basin between the col on the south and the Whitney glacier on the north. "Is that a body?" one of the climbers asked, pointing to a large, black object in the middle of the basin about 300 feet below us. To Mike and the Jeffs the object looked like rocks, except for two small protruding objects on the west side of the object, which could have been boots.

Mike and the Jeffs still planned to head down [being mostly concerned about Em and Bruce], but the two climbers were heading up to the summit [they later turned around due to the wind] and they offered to pass by the object and signal us if it was a body. A couple minutes later they motioned us over. Mike and the Jeffs came down the slope to a position at approx. 11,750 feet between the col and the rib that rises up to the climbers' route, which continues up the mountain. We came within 10 feet of the body but none of us could bring ourselves to go closer.

From the descriptions of John's clothing - black parka, yellow jacket, burgandy boots - Mike could immediately identify the body as Zippo. Almost all of the body was exposed on top of the snow. The snow had melted away and/or been scoured away by wind [John had likely been buried by snow for more than a month].

After only a couple of minutes, we thanked the climbers and made the decision to quickly descend back to our camp, inform Em and Bruce on the way down of our discovery, and place a call to the Sheriff as soon as possible. The wind was still very strong.

Mike and the Jeffs descended the col at approx. 10:30am and met Em and Bruce [who were heading up, Bruce feeling fine] at approx. 11,500 feet. We told them we'd found John. They continued up - and for this they should be highly commended - and they covered John's body with plastic [a deeply respectful and difficult act] and marked the area with wands. They calmly and graciously did what Mike and the Jeffs couldn't have done, and for this we are very grateful. [Both Em and Bruce knew John personally.]

Mike and the Jeffs arrived at camp at approx. 10:45am and Mike placed a call to the Sheriff's Office, informing them we'd found John. Mike also placed a couple of calls to Pat Cook, to inform family, but got an answering machine. Mike and the Jeffs began to break camp, and Em and Bruce finally arrived back at camp at approx. 12:30pm [after further investigating the area and finding a small camp about 75 feet above John]. They broke camp and we descended, following a series of gully traverses, at 1:30pm.

At Hidden Valley we recovered our snowshoe - and Bruce's beer - cache and passed around a bottle of Sierra Nevada, having a drink for John [fitting, for John loved no other mountain range more than the Sierra].

We arrived at Bunny Flat a little after 4pm and Mike gave a statement to Dave Nicholson of the Sheriff's Department. Bruce and Em came down soon after and gave a further statement.

A recovery effort is underway, but I cannot say for sure the method that will bring John down. A chopper flight was arranged while we were descending the mountain - we saw it fly over - but we later learned it could not land due to high winds. [A chopper was eventually rented two days later and John's body was recovered from the mountain on 30 May 2000 and was identified that night by John Burns, a friend.]

Em, Bruce, Mike and the Jeffs and [John] Burns had dinner and drinks - a huge thanks to Ed McReynolds for his generosity [Ed is a friend of Jeff K. and after hearing about what had happened on the mountain bought us all dinner and drinks, which we needed] - and later spoke to Sieg, Doreen and Joey via phone from the Best Western. Sieg is currently talking to local news channels and he may be able to arrange another chopper flyover [This did not happen but numerous local and national newspapers covered the story].

This is certainly not over until John makes it home. It's all very sad, but we feel good in having done on the mountain what we came here to do: find John. It is all of our most sincere wishes that he can be brought down as soon as possible. [And so he was.]

A special thanks goes to my climbing partners: Jeff Huber, Jeff Keeney, Em Holland and Bruce Bindner. One couldn't ask for better people in the hills.

More news to follow...

All I remember of the next minute or so following our discovery is Jeff K. hugging me and saying, "We did what we came here to do." I remember the wind blowing.

To be honest, I wasn't thinking very clearly when we finally found John. All that I could do, all I was thinking, was: "Get down. Get hold of the authorities." I didn't mark or disturb the scene. I just bolted toward the col.