“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 had a cruel end for the two young Americans. First, the couple were hiking with a friend on Mount Whitney. At 4,419 meters, the mountain is considered the highest mountain in the USA outside of Alaska. But the friend and the couple split up, the friend climbed down alone, and the three of them finally wanted to meet up again. The friend then reported this himself in a Facebook group for extreme climbers. US media reported this. When the couple did not show up at the agreed meeting point even after hours, the man reported the two missing.
The department’s search and rescue team immediately began a search using a helicopter and foot troops. The couple had planned to descend from the “Notch,” a critical point in 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 initially didn’t find the two missing people either.
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.
