Deceased/Not Found CA - 1st Lt. Matthew Kraft, adult, didn't return from skiing trip, Kearsarge Pass, 23 Feb 2019

[Herat]

Yeah, the search area for the vehicle where he would have left it is really quite limited. Unless his vehicle tumbled off the road into one of the steep canyons nearby it shouldn't have been that hard to locate.

I do wonder if he actually ever made it to Independence.

It's 4.5 hours of freeway driving ( 275 miles) from Camp Pendleton to Independence. There are traffic cameras all along the route up until you get to about Santa Clarita or Hesperia. Then the's only one identified traffic camera at Coso Junction.

 

[Herat]

Thats a very good question

He must have arranged a ride from the terminus of his route at Twin Lakes back to the trailhead on Onion Valley Road. It would have to be someone in a 4wd prepared for snow driving experience. 395 was closed between Mammoth and Bridgeport over Conway Summit for several times during the time of his trip. In Feb you just couldn't expect to hitchike back from Bridgeport.

 

[zecats]

Here's the elevation profile of JMT along most of his route.
https://www.pcta.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/JMTelevationprofile.jpg

He would have 10 mountain passes of over 10,000 ft elevations

How could he have been skiing ? Maybe he went skiing at Mammoth and then decided to hike the JMT? I can’t picture him ascending and descending these peaks/passes on skis.

 

[Herat]

Here's a great video about the terrain along the eastern Sierras, and up along Onion Valley Road. Filmed in the height of summer, clearly

You get a good idea about how narrow that road is and how visible his vehicle should have been.

 

[Herat]

How could he have been skiing ? Maybe he went skiing at Mammoth and then decided to hike the JMT? I can’t picture him ascending and descending these peaks/passes on skis.

Cross-country skis and snowshoes, I'd think. "Ski-touring" or "Backcountry skiiing"

Not conventional downhill skis

 

[Herat]

Here's a written account of a 2005 winter trip along the Sierra High Route

https://www.sierramountaincenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/SMC_tour_highroute_article_2005.pdf

It give a little information about the origins of the route.

And here's a brochure about a short (36 mile) guided ski tour in the Kearsage Pass area. This must have been one of the low snow years. I'm sure KP would have been entirely snow covered by about 10 + feet of snow on Feb 23-24 of this year

The Sierra High Route

 

[Herat]

Here's a nice long video of some guys who did part of this Sierra High Route in April 2017.

When the weather was nice. And there was much less snow

And here is a nice account of Dave Beck and how he developed this famous backcountry skiing route.

David Beck: Architect of the Sierra High Route

And this might be the phrase that lures people like Matthew Kraft to do it:

"Since that first crossing, the High Route has become de rigueur for any backcountry skier, anywhere. It’s become a sign of a backcountry skier’s social standing: if you haven’t skied the Sierra High Route, you just haven’t earned your ski mountaineering bona fides."

 

[Herat]

So, it doesn't make sense for Matthew Kraft to rent a vehicle to leave at the Kearsage Pass trailhead and then have someone else have to come pick him up 135 miles later. Unless he wasn't sure how far he could get and wanted to have the vehicle nearby to get back to in case he wanted to cut the trip short.

Maybe he did that and decided to try another part of the trip and it's at another trailhead?

OR: I wonder if he rented the Jeep and both he and friend drove up to the trailhead where he was dropped off. Then friend returned with the vehicle. Intent to pick him up using same vehicle 9 or 10 days later?

But I'd think the friend that called him in overdue would have been able to produce the rental?

 

[GraceG]

You just can't do that route this time of year on skis. Maybe in late (two months from now) Spring. I have family in the mountains of California - they've had an unusually high level of snow, not skis, snowshoe material if you are lucky.

 

[Herat]

I wouldnt say that it cant be done on winter on skis. I'm sure many have, especially in the low-snow years.

That route is clearly done in early spring on skis. He was doing it during a time of notoriously bad weather in the Sierras.

I just posted above you with several trip accounts of the Sierra High Route done weeks to months later on skis.

 

[Herat]

If his vehicle isn't at the trailhead he had planned for, and would have let a friend know about, then I think it's likely at a different trailhead farther north along the eastern Sierras.

I have to think he had a specific amount of time off and had planned for this trip for some time, so he would likely have carried on driving farther north to another access point, rather than turn around and head home.

 

[Herat]

There is a Marine winter warfare training base, Pickel Meadows, just off of Sonora Pass (Highway 108) that is north of Bridgeport. One of the missing people notices says Lt. Kraft was ending up there. It would be about another 30 miles of hard ski touring to get there instead of Twin Lakes. That certainly could be the group that would call him in missing. It would also make sense that a buddy there would be able to ferry him back to his vehicle at the Kersage Pass trailhead.

Still doesnt explain where his vehicle is.

 

[Laughing]

Someone else could be missing with him -- leave one vehicle at the end of route, drive in other vehicle to start.

But, there should be an "abandoned" vehicle at one trailhead & the rented Jeep at another plus another missing person?

The Pickel Meadows rendezvous idea is a good one.

JMHO YMMV

 

[Herat]

Nothing has been mentioned that says he had company on this trip. It's an awful hard and dangerous trip to do solo. Or without a SPOT or other satellite tracking device that would alert others to your position. And maybe avalanche alert devices, too. It also enters Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park along the route. I believe you have to have backpack permits for those areas, so it would be useful to know how many people are on the permits- just him or others?

Going all the way to Pickel Meadows would add another 30 exhausting miles to this highly ambitious trip.

I certainly get the picture of Lt. Kraft as a highly fit and experienced outdoorsman. I'd think he'd want to be in contact with buddies along the route. It makes sense that he drops off rental car & Marine buddy ferries him back at the end.

Now lets find that vehicle

 

[Razz]

Marine Lieutenant Reported Missing After Ski Trip

Marine from Camp Pendleton and vehicle missing after ski trip; search underway

In the above article comments section, a poster suggested he may have crashed and both he and the vehicle went over the side of the mountsin.
That makes sense. Would explain why there is no car. I hope they're looking at areas along the road.

 

[Herat]

The article doesn't say anything about his car crashing and both of them going over the side of a mountain. That's a comment in the comments section. Some of the comments are truly despicable. Even to his own brother.

I'd delete that article bcause of the awful, cruel comments in it

I'm very sure that multiple highly qualified agencies are searching all the routes, trailheads, and any access points into the Sierras for any trace of his vehicle.

 

[GuyfromCanada]

First Lt. Matthew Kraft began trekking a section of the rugged Sierra High Route on Feb. 23 and was scheduled to complete it on Monday or Tuesday near Bridgeport, a town northeast of Yosemite National Park, 1st Marine Capt. Paul Gainey said.

Kraft is an infantry officer who received survival training in the field.

"He has the skills to survive in austere environments, and we're hoping for the best here," Gainey said.

Searchers located on Friday night a Jeep that Kraft parked at the start of his trip near Independence, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) south of Bridgeport, Inyo County Sheriff's spokeswoman Carma Roper said Saturday.

Crews search for Marine missing in California mountains

 

[Herat]

Thanks Guy from Canada - I hadn't seen on the update they found the vehicle Friday night near Independence.

So it's very likely he's up there somewhere on that Sierra High Route.

If only he had a location device, they'd know where to concentrate a search.

 

[Herat]

Lt Kraft's father contacted LE on March 4.

"On March 4 Lt. Kraft’s father contacted Mono Sheriff after not hearing from his son. Forensics initiated by the Mono Sheriff showed that Kraft's last phone activity was in the Independence area.

Kraft is an infantry officer who received survival training in the field.

"He has the skills to survive in austere environments and we're hoping for the best here," Gainey said.

The Marine’s rental vehicle, a gray 2016 Jeep Wrangler 2-door, was found around 9 p.m. March, 8 near Lower Grays Meadows - north of Independence, Calif.

On Saturday Inyo Search and Rescue deployed a snowcat to rope-tow search and rescue team members on skis up to the Onion Valley parking area, not far from where his Jeep was found.

The SAR team members are prepared to clear as much area as possible on the Kearsarge Pass trail, where Kraft began his trek. Team members will work as long as weather permits; another storm is anticipated Saturday afternoon through the weekend.

In addition, crews from local, state and federal agencies are searching a 400-square-mile area from Yosemite down to Sierra and Inyo National Forests and Kings Canyon National Park, Inyo County Sheriff's spokeswoman Carma Roper said."

Searching a 400 square mile area covered in up to 50 ft of snow with another storm coming in.

 

[zecats]

No luck finding him today (Saturday) it seems.

Crews search for Marine missing near Yosemite National Park

BRIDGEPORT, Calif. (AP) — Authorities in California searched for a sixth day Saturday for a missing Marine after he failed to return from a backcountry skiing trip through the Sierra Nevada.

LT. KRAFT'S BACKPACKING ITINERARY

Lt. Kraft’s itinerary was the Sierra High Route, which included hiking out of Kearsarge Pass on Feb 24 and hiking out near the Twin Lakes area by Bridgeport on March 4 or 5.

Anyone with information regarding Kraft’s whereabouts should immediately contact one of the following:

• Inyo County Sheriff’s Office at (760) 878-0383, option 4
• Mono County Sheriff’s Office at (760) 932-7549, option 7
• Fresno County Sheriff’s Office at (559) 600-8400