MISSING CLIMBER: Maroon Bells, Bells traverse, Pyramid

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acidchylde
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Re: MISSING CLIMBER: Maroon Bells, Bells traverse, Pyramid

Post by acidchylde »

polar wrote:Do you have access to real-time satellite images? Is this a new front in search and rescue we haven't heard about?
It's not new, it's just not terribly effective for something as small as a person, for reasons already pointed out a few posts back. If you want another example, pull up Google and zoom in on a populated area and see what people look like (keeping in mind you see more of their shadow than you do of them, since you're essentially looking at their head and shoulders unless they're laying down - find a beach for that, which also has the benefit of being high-contrast). However it could potentially spot a tent or spread out blanket or some other such emergency signal.

Lifes is almost certainly referring to Tomnod http://www.tomnod.com/, something I first heard about a few years ago when they had a campaign going for... well I don't remember the name, I just remember it was a guy sailing his own boat that went missing in some stretch of ocean. Tomnod was mentioned earlier in one of these threads about this specific missing person. All I recall reading was that they were going to contact them to start a campaign, not that one had been launched. I see from the landing page that they got one up and running, so for the benefit of others (maybe I just missed it) click the link above and you can help as well. It just takes a web browser.

As someone who works with imagery on a not infrequent basis, I'll also point out that when you get into areas of high relief (in other words a lot of elevation change in a very short distance), things get even more problematic for satellite and even aerial images. A lot of people tend to look at Google and think it's this straight-down, everything visible from above, map-like image. It's not, it's a BUNCH of stitched together photos each taken from a single point (as in take a picture, go x feet forward, take another), just like any picture you would take. As a result when it gets stitched together things like vertical cliffs, or more to the point things behind other things get distorted and warped. You've likely seen this yourself on Google in some places. Back in 2013 when we had the floods up here in the Thompson Canyon, a project similar to Tomnod was launched that made it so people scanned a section of image and marked affected buildings and sections of road. But in looking at some of that imagery there were entire stretches of the canyon that you couldn't see the bottom because of the angle from which the picture was taken (in space). The road would be quite visible and appear to vanish into rocks - not because it was damaged and washed away, but because the mountains on the side of the canyon the satellite was on were blocking the view.

Digital Globe is a company based here locally that operates some of the highest resolution, commercially available (ie not military) satellites that are currently available. They supply the imagery for Tomnod, and often donate recent imagery to emergency management agencies in disaster events such as the flooding up here I mentioned earlier.
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jenkscolin
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Re: MISSING CLIMBER: Maroon Bells, Bells traverse, Pyramid

Post by jenkscolin »

AyeYo wrote:
Tawanda wrote:I saw him around 11am at the Silver Bells campground. I was just setting up my camp. I believe it was him . Black older jeep and wearing dark shirt. Said hello to him at the restroom which is next to campsite 13. After using the restroom, he drove away and I never saw him again. I so hope he is found and I have spoke with pitikin county sherrif.
No one else caught that? Was this a different day or not him? I thought everyone was assuming he headed out to hike at 11am, not left in his vehicle.

I am pretty sure this campground is down the road from the trailhead. So I assume what the post meant by "driving away" was he left the silver bells campground and drove towards the trailhead.
The smaller we come to feel ourselves compared with the mountain, the nearer we come to participating in its greatness - Arne Naess
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adamjm
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Re: MISSING CLIMBER: Maroon Bells, Bells traverse, Pyramid

Post by adamjm »

jenkscolin wrote:
I am pretty sure this campground is down the road from the trailhead. So I assume what the post meant by "driving away" was he left the silver bells campground and drove towards the trailhead.
Sorry to add more to this thread, but I can't view the MRA google docs at work. Is his car parked at the TH? I don't remember seeing anything about that.
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atalarico
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Re: MISSING CLIMBER: Maroon Bells, Bells traverse, Pyramid

Post by atalarico »

AyeYo wrote:
Tawanda wrote:I saw him around 11am at the Silver Bells campground. I was just setting up my camp. I believe it was him . Black older jeep and wearing dark shirt. Said hello to him at the restroom which is next to campsite 13. After using the restroom, he drove away and I never saw him again. I so hope he is found and I have spoke with pitikin county sherrif.
No one else caught that? Was this a different day or not him? I thought everyone was assuming he headed out to hike at 11am, not left in his vehicle.
Yeah, they mean he drove to the TH. The campgrounds are located down the road, so he packed up camp and headed to the TH. There's also the bit about how they found his car at the TH parking lot with a ticket date/time stamped that indicated he started a lot later than he planned.

It's a bit confusingly worded though, so no worries!
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atalarico
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Re: MISSING CLIMBER: Maroon Bells, Bells traverse, Pyramid

Post by atalarico »

Also, all of these assumptions about the lack of visibility with his clothing are kind of silly. Bringing signal mirrors, PLBs, flare guns, space blankets, etc., are (mostly) great ideas, but they're assuming you aren't incapacitated to the point where you can't use them. I'm not saying you shouldn't bring these things or plan for the worst, just keep in mind that it's not always a situation where you require rescue but are conscious enough to do stuff about it.

It's a very sad story, and we were just on Maroon Peak the Friday before all of this went down.
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polar
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Re: MISSING CLIMBER: Maroon Bells, Bells traverse, Pyramid

Post by polar »

acidchylde wrote:Lifes is almost certainly referring to Tomnod http://www.tomnod.com/,
I was not aware of this web site at all, thanks for posting. It's worth repeating, I don't know how many actually know about this site. Unfortunately the resolution of the satellite photo is too low to really spot something as small as a person, but who knows, it could be helpful in finding other clues.
"Getting to the bottom, OPTIONAL. Getting to the top, MANDATORY!" - The Wisest Trail Sign
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Re: MISSING CLIMBER: Maroon Bells, Bells traverse, Pyramid

Post by dave_navy_VA »

atalarico wrote:Also, all of these assumptions about the lack of visibility with his clothing are kind of silly. Bringing signal mirrors, PLBs, flare guns, space blankets, etc., are (mostly) great ideas, but they're assuming you aren't incapacitated to the point where you can't use them. I'm not saying you shouldn't bring these things or plan for the worst, just keep in mind that it's not always a situation where you require rescue but are conscious enough to do stuff about it.

It's a very sad story, and we were just on Maroon Peak the Friday before all of this went down.
OK. If the point isn’t to proceed into the backcountry alone, fine. Concur. Why would you not cover the bases if you are solo and assume the risk if you can’t pop off a flare or smoke, or strobe? Part of the risk, no? Being solo that is.
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Re: MISSING CLIMBER: Maroon Bells, Bells traverse, Pyramid

Post by pseudoghost »

dave_navy_VA wrote:
atalarico wrote:Also, all of these assumptions about the lack of visibility with his clothing are kind of silly. Bringing signal mirrors, PLBs, flare guns, space blankets, etc., are (mostly) great ideas, but they're assuming you aren't incapacitated to the point where you can't use them. I'm not saying you shouldn't bring these things or plan for the worst, just keep in mind that it's not always a situation where you require rescue but are conscious enough to do stuff about it.

It's a very sad story, and we were just on Maroon Peak the Friday before all of this went down.
OK. If the point isn’t to proceed into the backcountry alone, fine. Concur. Why would you not cover the bases if you are solo and assume the risk if you can’t pop off a flare or smoke, or strobe? Part of the risk, no? Being solo that is.

Better to carry a PLB. At least that way, SAR will know that you need help, and where you are (to start looking at least).
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Re: MISSING CLIMBER: Maroon Bells, Bells traverse, Pyramid

Post by whiskeyzulu »

As you are all aware, the search for Dave Cook has been suspended until further, credible information is available to direct search teams. The SAR team and Pitkin County Sheriff have executed an exhaustive search of Pyramid, the Bells and Maroon Valley.

The Pitkin County Sheriff's office and Mountain Rescue Aspen are an exceptional team and strongly supported by their community. They have and continue to be committed and invested in finding Dave. They have not given up hope and neither have we.

We also want to identify and thank the 14ers community, which was an integral part of this search and just as committed. The people on this site responded to the family and friends of Dave Cook with information that correlated times and locations and generated leads; you showed up to come hike with us as we searched the mountain; and you came through with heartfelt support for a fellow climber and his loved ones.

Thank you for all that you have done to help and all that you continue to do.

See you on the mountain.
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atalarico
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Re: MISSING CLIMBER: Maroon Bells, Bells traverse, Pyramid

Post by atalarico »

dave_navy_VA wrote:
atalarico wrote:Also, all of these assumptions about the lack of visibility with his clothing are kind of silly. Bringing signal mirrors, PLBs, flare guns, space blankets, etc., are (mostly) great ideas, but they're assuming you aren't incapacitated to the point where you can't use them. I'm not saying you shouldn't bring these things or plan for the worst, just keep in mind that it's not always a situation where you require rescue but are conscious enough to do stuff about it.

It's a very sad story, and we were just on Maroon Peak the Friday before all of this went down.
OK. If the point isn’t to proceed into the backcountry alone, fine. Concur. Why would you not cover the bases if you are solo and assume the risk if you can’t pop off a flare or smoke, or strobe? Part of the risk, no? Being solo that is.
I'm definitely not saying don't go alone since I have solo'd technical climbs quite a bit, and I'm definitely not saying don't bring any of those signal or rescue devices. I just wanted to make the point that all of those are great tools in ideal circumstances, but sometimes s**t happens to incredibly skilled and adept people who are in a situation where they can't deploy the device they brought with them.

I suppose what I'm trying to convey is that simply having these devices can convey a very dangerous and false sense of security for some people. I'm not saying that's you, and I'm not saying that was David Cook. I'm just saying that all of this discussion of "he should have done X" or "he should have carried a PLB" and the inevitable "I won't run into a situation like him because I carry X" can be dangerous and should be left out of this thread.
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Re: MISSING CLIMBER: Maroon Bells, Bells traverse, Pyramid

Post by Sabelmom »

Family Statement Regarding the Suspended Search for Dave https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dR3 ... eieyE/edit

And Update on Finding Dave - http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/172694

Thank you!
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Re: MISSING CLIMBER: Maroon Bells, Bells traverse, Pyramid

Post by hop2it »

May God's peace, wisdom, and blessings be to Dave's family.
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