Sierra Wave: Local News for Mammoth Lakes, Bishop, and the Eastern Sierra - Body of Hiker Found on a Sierra Cliff Face

Body of Hiker Found on a Sierra Cliff Face

Written by Tom Woods

Thursday, 17 July 2008

Missing since signing the summit register on Mt. Goode July Fourth, on Wednesday Inyo Search and Rescue Volunteers took on the difficult and sad task of retrieving the body of 44 year old mountaineer Ric DeVan from where it lay on a high Sierra cliff. What led to the tragic fall is not and may never be known.

Major search operations were suspended on Friday after a week of searching turned up few positive signs of the missing man. With new evidence the Inyo SAR team checked out a lead on a rockslide Sunday, but friends and family kept searching this week, putting eyes to ground in the Bishop Pass area.

On Tuesday, a searcher affiliated with the DeVan Family, spotted Ric DeVan’s backpack from the summit of Peak 12,689, west of Bishop Pass. With this important new lead, Inyo SAR headed in to search the area on Wednesday.

Initial reports indicated that DeVan might have been caught and buried in a rock slide, so an Inyo SAR dog team was flown into the area. While flying in to 12,689, the helicopter was used to search the area. In a short period of time, the dog handler spotted DeVan in a steep gully about 150 feet below the summit of the peak.

A team of Inyo SAR volunteers hiked to the base of the peak to recover DeVan. After climbing about 350’ of loose fourth and fifth class rock, the volunteers lowered DeVan down the cliff and carried him to the waiting helicopter.

DeVan signed the summit register on Mt. Goode on July 4th saying that he intended to head toward Mt. Johnson. The plan was to meet up with his wife and daughter at Treasure Lakes on the Fourth. It now appears that after reaching the summit of Mt. Goode, DeVan changed plans, being un-equipped to climb the loose fourth and fifth class ridge between himself and his destination of Mt. Johnson and Treasure Lakes. He then reversed direction, and headed back toward the trail at Bishop Pass.

Peak 12,689 where he was found, is the last peak on the ridge that leads from Mt. Goode to Bishop Pass.

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Sierra hiker said:

I was hiking to Bishop Pass on the first day that SAR was looking for Rick and I saw heliocopters flying repeated around Mt. Goode and toward Mt. Johnston and toward Treasure Lakes. I went up Bishop Pass again two days later on Sunday and again saw two helicopters flying virtually the same pattern, but not once did I see the choppers fly near Peak 12,689 for any extented time, nor did I see any SAR ground teams along the ridge toward Mt. Goode from Bishop Pass.

I guess the lessons learned by SAR management teams should be to expect the unexpected and never rely on what the lost hiker has indicated what he plans to do. What even sadder case would it been if Rick had injured himself and needed immediate help and perished due to shortsightedness on the part of SAR teams. I can't be that critical and charge them with incompetence, but I do believe the SAR personel in charge needs additional training on search protocol. Tens of thousands of dollars wasted in fuel, chopper time, personal from all of the State, heartaches, etc. It was not a very difficult situation and the SAR gave up after extented search at the wrong area mainly becasue they assume Rick would go where he wanted to go as indicated on the peak registry on Mt. Goode.

Rick is at peace knowing that his loved one never gave up and had to bring him home themselves. I know SAR team members gave theur all after many days and hindsight gives me the priviledge of being critical, and I hope future lost mountaineers in the Sierra will benefit from the hard lessons learned by all from this unfortunate incidence in our backyard.

August 05, 2008

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