Re: 4th Matthew Greene Search 9/4-9/8/19
Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2019 10:43 pm
Well said Jim. Even as a new member of this search team I felt the same sense of easy connection to everyone in the group. Not too far beneath the surface of this experience was a shared feeling of angst over something that happened to Matthew Greene that could easily have happened to one of us. There was a quiet, thoughtful intensity as we covered ground while looking for a fellow climbers' bones. My hope is that even without the closure that Matthew's remains would have brought, his family will be happy that we are keeping their son's memory alive. I know that Jason will relay to them the fact that all of us respect Matthew for his courage and his passion... that we are drawn to him, rather than in any way disapproving of how he chose to climb. The more I find out about this man, the more highly I think of him; every one of his entries in the various climbing forums shows passion, intelligence and humility.
So we were honored to offer our help, and here's a view of the search effort we made for Matthew Greene: (sorry, don't know how to include images in a separate album.)
From the base of the SHR "Nancy Pass," Bearzy and I began to bend our path into upper edges of the route to search for clues in talus fields and in potential bivy-rock sites.
From the slope above Lake Cecile we got out the crampons and ice axe and searched the area at the upper edge of the glacier/snowfield to the north of South Notch. Dave Ayers, Jason, Peter, Lisa, Jim- I'm not sure who all?- searched the south side of the snowfield.
The red line is the route of Bear's and my search, with a few closeups of snowfield gaps we looked into below.
We crossed South Notch with some difficulty, and then hiked over to the top of the 3 scary gullies/cracks that lead into basin to the south. Then we returned to search in this lake, and the base of Michael Minaret.
This shows the route I searched on Michael Minaret after tying Bear to a flat spot in the upper gully. On the same day, Henry, Scott and Clark made a complete search of the summit, and parts of the northern slopes of Michael, along with a score of other ridges and Minaret summits.
The real critical work this day was performed by the climbers Henry, Scott and Clark, seen here descending the top of South Notch.* At the end of a long day, I was glad to have Henry's help lowering Bear with solid rope technique.
*actually, that's Paul in the middle, who soloed up to South Notch to join us. Clark on rappel, Paul and Henry on the glacier, and Scott is out of sight above, handling the belay.
Scott and Clark at South Notch.
Henry, Scott, Clark and Paul below South Notch.
The last days of searching included the route up the valley leading to the mines and the pass under Volcanic Ridge, and onto the summit of V. Ridge.
So we were honored to offer our help, and here's a view of the search effort we made for Matthew Greene: (sorry, don't know how to include images in a separate album.)
From the base of the SHR "Nancy Pass," Bearzy and I began to bend our path into upper edges of the route to search for clues in talus fields and in potential bivy-rock sites.
From the slope above Lake Cecile we got out the crampons and ice axe and searched the area at the upper edge of the glacier/snowfield to the north of South Notch. Dave Ayers, Jason, Peter, Lisa, Jim- I'm not sure who all?- searched the south side of the snowfield.
The red line is the route of Bear's and my search, with a few closeups of snowfield gaps we looked into below.
We crossed South Notch with some difficulty, and then hiked over to the top of the 3 scary gullies/cracks that lead into basin to the south. Then we returned to search in this lake, and the base of Michael Minaret.
This shows the route I searched on Michael Minaret after tying Bear to a flat spot in the upper gully. On the same day, Henry, Scott and Clark made a complete search of the summit, and parts of the northern slopes of Michael, along with a score of other ridges and Minaret summits.
The real critical work this day was performed by the climbers Henry, Scott and Clark, seen here descending the top of South Notch.* At the end of a long day, I was glad to have Henry's help lowering Bear with solid rope technique.
*actually, that's Paul in the middle, who soloed up to South Notch to join us. Clark on rappel, Paul and Henry on the glacier, and Scott is out of sight above, handling the belay.
Scott and Clark at South Notch.
Henry, Scott, Clark and Paul below South Notch.
The last days of searching included the route up the valley leading to the mines and the pass under Volcanic Ridge, and onto the summit of V. Ridge.