Overview
- Friends reported 53-year-old Brian Seibert missing after he did not return from a solo hike on Sunday.
- Rescuers confirmed Seibert had reached the 13,005-foot summit by checking the summit register and used cellphone forensics to trace his descent route on Monday.
- Search teams resumed operations on Tuesday and a California National Guard CH-47 Chinook helped deploy crews before a search helicopter spotted an aerial anomaly near the Grand Central Couloir.
- Ground teams followed a single set of boot tracks down the east-facing couloir and found Seibert’s body, which investigators say resulted from an unsurvivable fall from a cliff band; his body was recovered the next morning.
- The case underscores the hazards of solo climbs on remote, technical peaks and the heavy resources Sierra rescues can require, including Chinook lifts, helicopters and air-scent dogs.