From the air and on the ground, search crews continued Friday to look for a 41-year-old Centennial man missing on Mount McKinley in central Alaska.
Gerald Myers was last seen near the summit of North America’s tallest mountain at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Myers’ girlfriend, Marcia McCarroll, said he intended to ski down.
Improved weather Friday enabled search crews to conduct air surveillance for two hours, said Denali National Park spokeswoman Maureen McLaughlin. Flights were planned to continue until sundown.
“We’ll definitely continue searching for the next couple days,” McLaughlin said.
Spotters in a plane and a helicopter used high-speed cameras to look for any trace of Myers.
A ranger patrol is searching for Myers near a camp at 17,200 feet, and spotters are using spotting scopes at a camp at 14,200 feet.
Myers began his climb with three others. Tuesday morning, Myers left a note with his partners at the 14,200-foot camp saying he was attempting to reach the summit.
Witnesses said Myers wore warm clothing but lacked a sleeping bag, thermal pad or a stove to melt snow for water.
McCarroll told The Denver Post on Thursday that Myers was an avid mountaineer who had been planning his McKinley climb for three years. Authorities think Myers might have chosen one of the two most difficult routes to ski down, the Orient Express or the Messner Couloir, because they offered favorable ski conditions.
Staff writer Joey Bunch contributed to this report.
