“This is the kind of life I dreamed of for 15 years,” wrote 28-year-old Andrew N. on his Instagram profile just a few days ago. He wanted to conquer the highest mountains in the USA with his girlfriend. But the next climb ended in disaster for the couple.
He and his girlfriend had just climbed the volcano Mount Shasta in California and now wanted to travel on to Mount Whitney, another 4,000-meter peak. “I’ve finally surrounded myself with people who I can share these experiences with and I couldn’t be more grateful,” said Andrew N. alongside a photo of him and his girlfriend Patty B.
But the next extreme hike came to a cruel end for the two young Americans. The couple first went to Mount Whitney with a friend. At 4,419 meters high, the mountain is considered the highest mountain in the USA outside of Alaska. But the acquaintance and the couple separated, the friend went off alone, and ultimately the three wanted to meet again. The friend then reported this himself in a Facebook group for extreme climbers. This is what the US media reports. When the couple didn’t show up at the agreed meeting point after hours, the man reported them missing.
The department’s search and rescue team immediately began a search with a helicopter and foot troops. The couple had planned to descend from the “Notch”, a critical point on the climb, and ski or snowboard down the right side of the mountain to Upper Boy Scout Lake, where they had set up camp. But rescue teams were initially unable to find the two missing people.
It wasn’t until five days later that a team came across two bodies on the north wall. According to an official report, the two Americans crashed and died.