From the air and on the ground, search crews continued Friday to look for a 41-year-old man from Centennial missing on Mount McKinley in central Alaska.
Gerald Myers, a practicing chiropractor in Colorado and Pennsylvania native, 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 on Friday enabled search crews to conduct air surveillance for two hours, said Denali National Park spokeswoman Maureen McLaughlin. Flights are planned to continue until the sun goes down.
“We’ll definitely continue searching for the next couple days,” McLaughlin said.
Spotters in a fixed wing plane and a helicopter used high speed cameras to find any hint of Myers, such as foot tracks or clothing. The aircrafts were able to get a “decent look at the summit plateau” as well as the various ski routes that Myers may have used, said McLaughlin. The helicopter had visibility problems due to clouds in the middle elevations of the mountain.
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 was climbing with three other climbers. Tuesday morning, Myers left a note for his partners at the 14,200 foot camp saying he was attempting to reach the summit.
Witnesses saw Myers wearing warm clothing but lacking a sleeping bag, thermal pad or a stove to melt snow for water.
McLaughlin said altitude sickness is a concern.
“The affects of (altitude sickness) are acerbated by inadequate supplies of food and water. The water part is a major concern,” she said.
It is unknown how much food Myers carried.
Myers also faces cold and windy conditions that can cause frost bite, McLaughlin said.
McCarroll told The 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.
Anthony Bowe 303-954-1661 or abowe@denverpost.com
Denver Post Staff Writer Joey Bunch contributed to this report.
