Palisades Accident- U Notch body recovery 7/4

Does anyone have any information on the body recovery that took place 7/4 within the bergschrund of the U notch? I believe an older man fell on 7/2 but dont have any other information.

Sad Day when this happens.

My since condolences to the Family and Friends

http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/2840130/Death-on-North-Palisade

I have additional information on the accident; I climbed from North Pal to regain the U notch via the Le Conte variation with the party while soloing T-bolt to Sill on July 2-2016. We parted ways at the U notch wishing each other well - I found out the next day (on the hike out) that one climber had fallen to his death. We climbed together for about an hour and also shared the North Pal summit; we talked quite a bit during that time and worked together to regain the U-notch.

I can share details of our conversations including their reports of snow and ice conditions on the accent to the U-notch (bad). These should be helpful to the eventual investigation. Feel free to contact me directly; my hope here is to help shed light on what happened as far as that is possible.

richcobb wrote:...Feel free to contact me directly; my hope here is to help shed light on what happened as far as that is possible.

Inyo SAR contacted. Thanks for the tip

We came down the U notch on Sunday afternoon from Polemonium Peak. V notch conditions were much better than the U. We down climbed a good portion of the U notch until the snow turned into a mixture of ice and snice (approx. 500 ft above the bergschrund). 3 full raps on the right side of the couloir were mostly on ice and rock, back on snow at and below the bergschrund. We did notice a hat about 300 ft above the bergschrund and commented on it. The rap took us just right of the body and shook us up quite a bit.

Monday morning chopper activity increased and we knew word had reached the authorities.

My best estimate, the man fell where the snow turned into ice/snice (approx. 500 feet above the bergschrund) and was unable to self-arrest as it would have been impossible to do so due to ice conditions. Head trauma may be possible as the hat we came across was next the rock wall, leading me to believe he was not wearing a helmet.

My condolences.

Pitor - I'm sorry to hear you guys found the body. When I ran into the victim's brother (his climbing partner that day) again on Sunday we discussed how to get help on the scene as soon as possible. As indicated by the post from the Sheriff's office it does not seem that the rescue party could have gotten to him any sooner.

FYI for folks considering a go on the T-bolt-->Sill traverse. I encountered other parties on Saturday that, in addition to rock gear, had an ice-screw or two. This seems very smart, especially in light of this tragedy. While there is currently no ice on the route, a screw or two is a good idea as it would allow you to rap on Abalakov/V-threads down the U-notch if you can't find good rock to rap off.

I'm in contact with Inyo SAR and will help them to whatever extent I can. Having said this its worth sharing that both brothers were thoughtful, friendly, and helpful Saturday. We kept each other on route and supported one another during the short-arduous effort to regain the U-notch on the Le Conte variation which involved climbing through rotten snow and loose rock. You can form a bond pretty quickly when helping each other through a rough patch - the outcome of the day is heartbreaking