The body of a missing climber was found covered in snow on a Mount Whitney hiking trail as storms delayed rescue efforts, authorities said.
The Inio County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Monday that shortly before 10 p.m. on Oct. 19, it received a report from an employee at the Lone Pine Motel that a guest had missed check-out and left personal items behind. The man told motel staff he planned to hike in the area, according to the sheriff’s statement.
Finding him proved to be a challenge. Deputies had limited information about his route and whereabouts, the statement said. They tried to contact him using the special messaging system Rapid Deploy but received no reply.
A break in the case came when the Sheriff’s Office discovered the climber’s vehicle in Whitney Portal the next day. The U.S. Forest Service helped confirm that he had a permit for the October 18 climb. The most common route up Mount Whitney is the more than 20-mile-long Whitney Trail; the roughly nine-mile climb is more direct, but also steeper.
A California Highway Patrol helicopter found a dead climber on the route later that day, but the storm system soon moved into the area, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Snowfall and severe weather have temporarily delayed recovery efforts.
After conditions improved, a CHP helicopter took Ineo County search and rescue teams to Iceberg Lake, where they “traveled through the ice and snow to reach the snow-covered climbers.” Helicopters then lifted the climber’s body from an altitude of approximately 13,600 feet.
The Into County Coroner’s Office, which handles identification matters, was unavailable for comment Monday evening.
Authorities have not yet identified the hiker. The Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At 14,505 feet, Mount Whitney is the tallest mountain in the continental United States.
At least two people have died hiking on Mount Whitney this year. Earlier this month, a Fresno contractor who appeared on HGTV died while trying to summit the mountain. In January, an unidentified hiker was found on the north slope of Mount Whitney, below an extremely dangerous section of the final 400 feet of the climbing route.
In December, the body of a 21-year-old hiker was found on Mount Whitney. In October 2025, Mount Whitney received its earliest snow of the season, and another hiker slipped and died. Both were found on a difficult stretch of road known as Route 99’s Switchbacks.