A 41-year-old chiropractor from Centennial is missing after a solo ascent to the summit of Mount McKinley in central Alaska, and an aerial search Thursday turned up no sign of him.
Gerald Myers, a Pennsylvania native and avid mountaineer, has lived in Colorado for five years, said his girlfriend, Marcia McCarroll.
She said he had been planning for three years to make his first attempt at climbing North America’s tallest mountain, and he intended to ski down.
“He’s an avid mountaineer and an avid outdoorsman,” she said. “I believe he can make it. We’re staying positive.”
Returning climbers saw Myers approaching the 20,320-foot summit alone about 11 a.m. Wednesday, with skis strapped to his pack. A team traveling two hours behind saw no sign of Myers.
He did not return to camps at 17,200 feet or 14,200 feet, where he left two climbing partners Tuesday, according to the National Park Service.
Authorities think Myers might have chosen one of the two most difficult routes down, the Orient Express or the Messner Couloir, because they are conducive to skis.
Witnesses said he was wearing warm clothing but did not have a sleeping bag, thermal pad or a stove to melt snow for water. Searchers did not know how much food he carried.
Searchers aboard an Air National Guard helicopter were impeded by clouds and high winds Thursday and were hoping for a break in the weather to resume the search Friday, according to the National Park Service.
McCarroll said Myers has “as zest for life, a zest for the outdoors. This was his big dream.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
