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Sunday, May 16, 2004 On Tuesday, May 4, Jason Harper hired an air
taxi to drop him off at Windy Ridge for a climb of 16,237’ Mt. Sanford,
located in the northern portion of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
and Preserve. When pilot Harley McMahan returned to pick him up
at the appointed time on Sunday May 9, Harper did not show up. McMahan
searched the immediate area on the ground, and completed aerial
searches for several days. On Wednesday, May 12, McMahan notified
the National Park Service about Harper’s missing status. An immediate
investigation was launched in the air and on the ground. In the
ensuing days, Alaska State Troopers, National Park Service, the
Rescue Coordination Center of the Air National Guard, volunteer
mountain rescue teams, and volunteer climbers joined in the search
effort. Sergeant Duane Stone served as co-Incident Commander with
Park Ranger/Search and Rescue Coordinator Pete Dalton, and Trooper
Kenneth Acton served as a liaison and technical advisor to the Incident
Command Team. Park Ranger/Pilot Rich Richotte served as air and
ground operations coordinator. While NPS pilots flew the climbing
route and possible exit routes, Harper’s car was located and inventoried.
The Rescue Coordination Center was notified, and a Pavehawk helicopter
with C-130 fixed-wing aircraft support responded Wednesday evening.
The Harper family had planned a reunion in Salt Lake City on May
12. When Jason Harper did not arrive, Jason’s father Doug, and Jason’s
brother (also Doug) flew the same day to Anchorage, arriving at
the Incident Command Center for the search in Gulkana that evening.
On Thursday, May 13, an NPS fixed-wing aircraft and McMahan’s fixed-wing
aircraft flew numerous search patters along the Mt. Sanford climbing
route and possible off-routes and escape routes. Meanwhile, the
Pavehawk helicopter, equipped with forward-looking infrared, flew
the climbing route to the summit; they found some evidence of previous
climbing parties, none linked to Harper. More helicopter resources
were ordered to intensify the search. Friday, May 14, an NPS fixed-wing
aircraft made numerous passes over possible escape routes from the
mountain toward the Copper River and along Boulder Creek; Harpers
father was flown over the climbing route. A contracted helicopter
flew low level searches along the snow and ice portions of the route
and off-route possibilities. A contract high-elevation Denali rescue
helicopter shuttled a team of four climbers to above the icefall
on the Sheep Glacier; the team traveled down through the icefall.
They could not safely approach many of the crevasses for visual
inspection, and were then extracted. A State Trooper helicopter
responded to the search effort with two sets of search dog teams.
On Saturday, May 15, the search dog teams, from the Mountain Rescue
Unit in Anchorage, were flown to Windy Ridge airstrip, where Harper
had been dropped off to begin his climb. The teams made a visual
search of the area while the dogs sniffed for human scent. Tracks
found leading downhill from Windy Ridge faded. The search dog teams
were returned to Incident Command Center at the Gulkana Hanger,
and then were transported back home to Anchorage. The Denali climbing
team flew reconnaissance of the climbing route. Joe Reichert headed
up the four-person Denali team; Kevin and Matt Smith, accomplished
climbers from McCarthy, joined the team. The six climbers were flown
to the vicinity of the icefall on the Sheep Glacier. They split
up into two teams, headed by Joe and Matt, to search the upper and
lower sections around the icefall. That afternoon the lower team
found a base camp that Harper had made during his summit attempt.
Harper made his camp, probably on Tuesday, May 4, in a snow shelter
built by a climbing party several weeks before. He then left most
of his camping gear secured in the snow shelter, and headed up the
mountain in a presumed fast, light, one-day summit attempt. He carried
an ice axe, crampons, 40 meters of rope, shovel, and some other
gear. Harper did not return, and in the ensuing days the shelter
collapsed, making it undetectable from the air. Sunday, May 16,
was the last day of intensive searching for Harper; it had been
12 days since he was last seen. Winds rose and a cloud cap moved
in over Mt. Sanford, as the climbing parties were extracted by helicopter
from the Sheep Glacier. The two helicopters scanned the climbing
route above Harper’s base camp and an NPS fixed-wing aircraft flew
the route. All aircraft returned to base as the weather deteriorated.
The Denali Rangers and the high-elevation Lama rescue helicopter
were released to Denali. The State Trooper helicopter was released
to Anchorage. Harper’s father and brother flew home. Park Rangers
plan to fly higher portions of the climbing route during future
patrols, as snow conditions change on Mt. Sanford. For more information,
contact Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve spokesperson,
Smitty Parratt at 907-822-7223 or by cell phone at 907-259-7223.
Privacy & Disclaimer
Author:Jane
Tranel
Last modified on: January 23, 2004
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