Re: Hiker missing Bells/Pyramid (elks/aspen)

Jennmartin14 · Post by **Jennmartin14** » Sat Sep 24, 2016 10:01 am

Should be able to call his phone company to see if they have service at the specific location/coordinates

Jennmartin14 · Post by **Jennmartin14** » Sat Sep 24, 2016 10:02 am

Does he have iPhone? Does he have where's my iPhone app?? May be silly.. but I've heard of it helping in searches

stoopdude · Post by **stoopdude** » Sat Sep 24, 2016 10:10 am

FWIW, I have AT&T and sent a text and photo from the summit of S. Maroon last year.

Good luck to all involved.

whiskeyzulu · Post by **whiskeyzulu** » Sat Sep 24, 2016 10:16 am

Thanks

Jblades · Post by **Jblades** » Sat Sep 24, 2016 10:25 am

I was on N. Maroon Monday and sent a text which was received right after I sent it. I had two bars with Sprint which is usually worse than Verizon and AT&T. My wife texted back right away but I didn't receive it until I got down towards Aspen much later in the day.

wildercore · Post by **wildercore** » Sat Sep 24, 2016 10:38 am

My fiancé and I hiked in to Crater Lake Wednesday night. We heard from one of the national forest volunteers about Dave being past due so we were looking out for any signs. Unfortunately I'm not sure we have any useful information. We stopped at campsite number 1 & 2 but they were occupied by two couples. We continued on to campsites 3-5. We stayed in campsite 4. We looked at campsite 5 from a distance but didn't see see any tents. We decided to explore North Maroon instead. We headed up the northeast ridge route and did pass a tent before the turn off for North Maroon. We decided to check it out in case it was Dave's tent. There were two sleeping bags in the tent. We made it as far as the rock glacier around noon before turning around. We looked around the cliff but didn't see anything. Just after we got off the rock glacier a green helicopter with the medical symbol was flying very low to the ground which made us turn around and look back. We then saw two other people coming across the rock glacier descending N Maroon. Not sure how high they made it and they never caught up to us so we didn't get to talk to them. I assume it was their tent we saw. Wish we could be more help and praying that SAR finds him.

Jennmartin14 · Post by **Jennmartin14** » Sat Sep 24, 2016 11:02 am

Thank you!!!!

tamara · Post by **tamara** » Sat Sep 24, 2016 11:36 am

Thank you to everyone contributing thoughts and information! I am David's sister. We are hear in CO waiting for him to be found.

Here is a summary of what we know:
He started his hike around 11:45am on Monday, which was very uncharacteristic of him. He usually started by 5am!
He was seen on the ascent of South Maroon at 1:40pm and was said to be moving slowly, which was also very uncharacteristic! He was an avid climber and in great shape.
He had a few pings off his cell phone near the top of South Maroon over a 2 hour period between 4 & 6pm.

We believe his plan was to make the traverse and descend North Maroon. SAR is searching both peaks.

The two things I have to add this morning are that:
1) I feel he didn't make the first summit, because he did not send a picture as he usually does from the summit.
2) A friend, while praying, felt God gave her a picture of him in a crevasse between two big rocks, with a broken leg, and snow, and a large flat rock overhead. Only God knows...but if this image generates a specific location to someone who has hiked this area, please let us know!

Thanks!

bergsteigen · Post by **bergsteigen** » Sat Sep 24, 2016 12:01 pm

I have Verizon, which usually has reception all over the mountains. But that's only on the summit. When I broke my leg on S Maroon at 13,000' on the SW couloir, we did not have cell service. But I had a SPOT satellite transceiver that did work. So if he didn't make the summit, he may be stuck somewhere out of service.

Hoping for a positive outcome!

Jennmartin14 · Post by **Jennmartin14** » Sat Sep 24, 2016 12:26 pm

I can't help but I felt the same feeling. I'm praising his name because he's speaking to us now. Keep at it!!

whiskeyzulu · Post by **whiskeyzulu** » Sat Sep 24, 2016 12:57 pm

Bergsteigen, Could you contact Pitkin Co Sheriff at 970-920-5300. They may be interested in hearing where you fell. Glad you are safe. Thanks.

bergsteigen · Post by **bergsteigen** » Sat Sep 24, 2016 1:03 pm

whiskeyzulu wrote:Bergsteigen, Could you contact Pitkin Co Sheriff at 970-920-5300. They may be interested in hearing where you fell. Glad you are safe. Thanks.

This happened just over 2 years ago now. I've talked with the Pitkin Co Sheriff in the hospital afterwards, and on a few follow up conversations. Plus I was skiing down the SW Couloir, not hiking. So a very different scenario.

I just wanted to point out that cell is typically only on or near the summits of a lot of these peaks. Plus SAR in this area is top notch. If anyone can find him, they will.