Outdoors/Adventure

Search on for missing McKinley climber

A Colorado man who spent the last three years dreaming about climbing in Alaska is missing on Mount McKinley and a high-altitude aerial search produced no sightings Thursday.

Gerald Myers, 41, of Centennial, Colo., was last seen Wednesday afternoon near the summit. He was packing skis but is believed to have limited other gear, National Park Service spokeswoman Maureen McLaughlin said.

Rangers think Myers reached the 20,320-foot summit of North America's highest peak Wednesday afternoon. From the summit, he would have been a couple of hours away from a camp at 14,200 feet, where he had left his three climbing partners early Tuesday morning, McLaughlin said.

Myers is a chiropractor with extensive climbing experience and an itch to climb in Alaska.

"He was very excited about this trip," said Kristin Garnett, a friend who works with Myers at the Arapahoe Chiropractic and Acupuncture Center in Centennial. "He's never climbed in Alaska."

Myers made efforts to schedule Alaska climbs in two previous years, but couldn't pull it off until this year. Last year, he was involved in a motor vehicle accident that interrupted his plans, Garnett said.

"He trained for this climb all season," she said. "He talked a lot about the climb."

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The fact Myers was carrying skis suggests he may have planned to descend on a steeper, more difficult route than the popular West Buttress, which he took to the summit ridge and perhaps beyond, McLaughlin said.

"There are many routes to come down and we do not know which one he was targeting," she said.

Because of their steepness, the Orient Express and the Messner Couloir are ski descents that require advanced skills, McLaughlin said. The Orient Express varies in steepness from 30 to 45 degrees and the Messner route ranges between 40 and 50 degrees.

Both chutes are considered dangerous, and the Orient Express has been the site of numerous fatalities over the years. "They are dramatic runs," McLaughlin said. "You would need some skill in that environment."

Garnett said Myers has extensive climbing experience. McLaughlin said his experience includes ascents of several 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado.

Park rangers say Myers was traveling light. On Tuesday, other climbers saw him grab a pair of skis from a cache he and his partners had built at 17,200 feet, but it's believed he made his solo summit attempt with no sleeping bag, bivy sack, stove or thermal pad, McLaughlin said.

"That does not sound like him at all," Garnett said.

A morning search by an Air National Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft was limited by high winds and cloud cover. Conditions didn't improve enough for another search later in the day, McLaughlin said.

This is the third emergency, and the first search, on the mountain this season, McLaughlin said. In separate incidents earlier this month, William Hearne of Fairport, N.Y., 61, collapsed on his approach to the 14,200-foot camp and died of apparent natural causes, and a man with pulmonary edema was evacuated from 14,200 feet.

By BETH BRAGG

bbragg@adn.com

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