21-year-old Joseph Brambila went for a solo hike of Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous United States, and his family never saw him again. Another solo hiker remembers seeing Brambila at the peak on that fateful November day, and they’d discussed the weather and the waning daylight. Apparently, Brambila told the other hiker he planned to save time by glissading down the mountain.
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Brambila had climbed Whitney before; he’d even made a YouTube video about it. He’d also learned how to glissade (slide down on your backside) on the very slope that likely claimed his life. Unfortunately, Brambila didn’t have the proper equipment to attempt this dangerous mountaineering technique. He disappeared for over a month, with deep snowfall on the mountain making search-and-recovery efforts difficult.
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On December 15, the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office announced the recovery of a deceased hiker’s body on Mt. Whitney, and although the formal-identification process is still underway, the general consensus is that they found Brambila. Media reports suggest the deceased’s clothing matches what Brambila was wearing.
Here is a report by the LA Times before officials recovered the young hiker’s body, followed by the Info County Sheriff’s Office’s official press release about the recovery:
Header stock image of Mt. Whitney by 4nadia/Getty Images
