A sad epilogue that is a painful reminder of the risks involved in mountain hikes. A Frenchman, an Air France pilot, was found dead in the Mount Whitney massif in California, announced Friday in a statement the Sequoia National Park.
MISSING HIKER ON MT WHITNEYTom Gerbier was day-hiking Mt. Whitney on Tuesday, Oct 17, and did not return. He is 6'2"...
Posted by Inyo County Search & Rescue on Thursday, October 19, 2023
Tom Gerbier had started his hike Tuesday morning at the foot of the 4,421-meter mountain, the highest point in the United States outside Alaska, but "went missing after not showing up for his return flight." A vast search operation was then launched.
"The hiker fell more than 300 meters,"
Initial aerial searches yielded nothing. Rescuers then took a mountaineering trail, and found evidence that a hiker had fallen off a cliff in an area known as "The Notch." The victim was located on Thursday with the help of a helicopter. "The hiker fell more than 300 meters," the statement from the U.S. national park said. Tulare County authorities later confirmed his identity.
Tom Gerbier had started his hike early Tuesday morning via a steep and particularly technical route, the second most popular path, reputed to be much more perilous than the main one. The route requires passage through a narrow ravine prone prone to landslides, notes the San Francisco Chronicle. This is the second death this year in Sequoia National Park, located in the Sierra Mountains in the western United States.