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The bodies of Jonny Copp and Wade Johnson have been recovered and Micah Dash has been declared missing in remote China.
To follow updates on the search effort from the Adventure Film Series blog, click here.
Memorial Details - Saturday, July 11th - Boulder Theater
6/30/2009 5:12:00 PM
We are still in the planning stages of the Memorial but below are the
details we can share at this point. We are trying to get a sense of
how many people are coming.
Please RSVP and ask people who you know who are planning to attend to follow the link below to RSPV as well.
Please RSVP and ask others to as well!
http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/PBTMPYABWLBSAWPZBJUZ/copp-dash-johnson-memorial
1:00 PM: Doors Open - Boulder Theater - come mingle, enjoy music, socialize with the community, and grab a drink.
2:00 PM: Program Begins – promptly.
3:30 PM: Light Snacks - After the memorial service is over, please enjoy yourselves at the Boulder Theater until 4:30.
5 PM: Casual Reception - to follow at Eben G. Fine park. BBQ (food provided), music and games.
From the Adventure Film Series blog:
Search Has Ended for Missing American Climber
6/12/2009 6:54:00 PM
June 12, 2009, Boulder, CO—
It is with deep regret that the American team and Chinese authorities
have ended the search for Micah Dash, the third missing climber, on
June 12, 2009.
The search began for three Boulder, Colorado climbers on June 3 after
they missed their flight from Chengdu, China. The three had not been
heard from since they left base camp on May 20, 2009. They were
attempting a new route on Mount Edgar (6,618 meters/21,712 feet) in the
Minya Konka area of China's Sichuan province.
On June 11, 2009, the bodies of climber Jonathan Copp (35) and
videographer Wade Johnson (24) were removed from a broad gulley among
avalanche debris on the southeast face of Mount Edgar. The body of the
third missing climber, Micah Dash (32) was not located during the
week-long search. Some of his equipment however, was located at the
scene and he is believed to be dead according to the search team in
China.
The bodies of Copp and Johnson were discovered after partial emergence
from fresh avalanche debris. After days of effort, the searchers agreed
that frequent rock fall and near-daily avalanches made further efforts
extremely dangerous. The vast search area and deposition of new
avalanche debris further diminished the probability of locating Dash's
body.
Though future efforts to locate the third climber might be possible,
the uniquely hazardous location, continual avalanches, and
deteriorating weather guaranteed by the approaching monsoon season have
for now, eliminated any safe, successful search for Dash.
On June 5 two Sichuan Mountaineering Association (SMA) climbers, Li
Zong Li and Guo Jie, discovered Copp’s body at 4,000 meters between
base camp and advanced base camp. On June 7, Chinese Mountaineering
Association (CMA) climbers Ci Luo and Li Fu Qing located Johnson's body
in the same vicinity. The Chinese searchers were soon joined by the
teams of Americans who helped with the recovery of the bodies and their
belongings.
Searchers included Sichuan Mountaineering Association (SMA) climbers,
Li Zong Li and Guo Jie; Chinese Mountaineering Association (CMA)
mountaineers, Ci Luo, Yan Ding Ding, Li Fu Qing, and Zhou Peng; and
professional American climbers Eric DeCaria, Nick Martino, Steve Su,
and Pete Takeda. The American and Chinese climbers combined experience
includes dozens of Himalayan expeditions, multiple Everest summits,
plus major Patagonian and Alaskan climbs.
Americans Nick Rosen and Mick Follari traveled to China to help
coordinate search efforts along with U.S. Consulate Section Chief Tina
Onufer from Moxi, the nearest town to base camp. A team of friends
coordinated logistical rescue operations from Boulder, Colorado
throughout the week. All American’s involved were close friends of the
three climbers.
A memorial service for the climbers is being planned in Boulder,
Colorado though a date has yet to be set. A fund is being established
in memory of the three climbers. Stay tuned to
the Adventure Film Series blog for
details, up-to-date information, and to contribute to the search and
recovery efforts and memorial fund.
We ask that you are respectful of friends and family at this time due
to the sensitive nature of the situation. No other information is
currently available. As soon as more information becomes available it
will be shared.
June 6th, 2009 - Body of American climber found in China- from Associated Press Reports
Two Boulder alpinists missing on Mount Gongga aka Edgar
BEIJING — The body of an American mountain climber has been found
after an avalanche in an isolated part of southwest China, the official
Xinhua News Agency said Saturday.
Rescue workers are searching for two other American members of the
group who went missing on Mount Gongga, Li Zhixin, an official with the
Chinese Mountaineering Association told Xinhua.
Xinhua did not identify whose body had been found.
A search was launched for the three climbers -- including Boulder
locals Jonny Copp, 35, and Micah Dash, 32, and Minnesota climber Wade
Johnson, 24 -- after they missed their June 3 flight back from Chengdu.
According to a blog run by Copp's film company, the body is believed to be one of those three climbers.
“We are working hard to get a positive ID on the climber’s body and
are keeping the search effort underway,” says Robb Shurr, a search
effort spokesman in Boulder.
Peter Mortimer, of Boulder's Sender Films, for which Johnson was
filming, wrote that the three men have inspired the climbing community.
That includes "their dedication to pushing the barriers of the sport
on rock and in alpine terrain; their extensive community outreach
through slide presentations and film festivals; their work with
clothing and gear companies in designing and promoting cutting-edge
equipment; and their dedication to capturing the most inspiring photos
and footage from the most extreme places on earth," he said.
Mortimer's message was part of a plea put out to the climbing
community to help raise funds for the rescue effort. Donations are
being collected at the Web site for Copp's organization, www.adventurefilm.org.
The trio was last heard from May 20 at the base camp of Mount Edgar, which is 22,900 feet above sea level according to Xinhua.
Below is a letter from Peter Mortimer and Sender Films from June 5th
Dear friends,
As you all know by now, Jonny Copp, Micah Dash and Wade Johnson are
missing on Mt Edgar in China and we are working on a multi-pronged
search and rescue operation. The support for this operation has been
unbelievable, and I can’t thank those of you enough who have
contributed by offering connections, resources, emotional support and most importantly, financial support.
These three guys have given so much to the climbing community in so
many ways: their dedication to pushing the barriers of the sport on
rock and in alpine terrain; their extensive community outreach through
slide presentations and film festivals; their work with clothing and
gear companies in designing and promoting cutting-edge equipment; and
their dedication to capturing the most inspiring photos and footage
from the most extreme places on earth.
Their lives have been dedicated to one thing: a celebration of
climbing. And when you give as much to the climbing community as they
have, I now see that the community gives back. In spades.
I wanted to share with you a few small examples of gestures performed in the last day alone:
• At midnight last night, a notoriously impoverished local climber –
and good friend of the team – showed up at search headquarters, threw
his passport on the table and said that for the first time in his life
he has two thousand dollars to his name, and he wants to spend it on a
flight to Chengdu to be one of the first Americans on the ground to
help out with the search.
• This morning at 9 AM, a guiding client of Micah’s wired $25,000
to search headquarters to make sure the search did not slow down due to
a financial bog-down.
• Companies who compete with the sponsors of these athletes are
paying for their own athletes with Chinese visas to get to get to China
as quickly as possible.
• People have offered up the 65,000 frequent flyer miles needed on United to get to China.
• Senators have pressured the Chinese embassy to expedite visas for American search volunteers.
The list goes on.
This is an expensive operation that will cost well into the hundreds of
thousands of dollars. But there is every reason to believe that these
guys are alive and trapped only a few hours from base camp. While there
is hope, there is life. We need to do all we can to get people on the
ground quickly, to get a helicopter in the air, and to keep
communication flowing.
If these guys ever gave anything to your life, or ever inspired you in
any way, now would be the time to give them something back.
As climbers, we are one big family and it is amazing to see how we look out for each other.
TO DONATE PLEASE GO TO: http://www.adventurefilm.org/blogs/adventure_blog.aspx
Kindest regards,
Pete Mortimer
Boulder, CO
June 5, 2009
Mt. Edgar photo from http://www.adventurefilm.org/blogs/adventure_blog.aspx
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