Climbers Mourn As China Avalanche Takes Heavy Toll
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Posted: Jun 7, 2009
Rescue workers have discovered the bodies of AAC members Jonny Copp and Wade Johnson in avalanche debris on Mt. Edgar (aka E-Gongga) in the Minya Konka massif of China. Copp's climbing partner, AAC member Micah Dash, is still missing, and an international search operation is continuing. The bodies were discovered between base camp and advanced base camp on the 6,618-meter peak.
Copp, 35, and Dash, 32, had hoped to climb a new route on the mountain’s south side and left base camp on May 20, along with Johnson, 24, who was working as a photographer for Boulder-based Sender Films. The expedition was sponsored in part by a Lyman Spitzer Cutting Edge Award from the AAC, along with a Mugs Stump Award, and the climbers researched their destination in the AAC Library.
Continuing avalanche danger and poor weather are hampering search operations. AAC members Eric Decaria and Pete Takeda, along with American climbers Nick Martino and Steve Su, have arrived in Sichuan and will assist Chinese mountaineers at the scene.
Copp and Dash have been longtime, generous supporters of the AAC: doing benefit slide shows, manning the club’s booth at the Outdoor Retailer trade show and other events, and donating many photos and stories to the American Alpine Journal and other AAC publications. Their first ascent of the Shafat Fortress in India was featured in the 2008 AAJ. Copp served on the committee that bestows the AAC's David A. Sowles Memorial Award, reserved for mountaineers who have gone to the assistance of fellow climbers at personal risk or the cost of their own objectives. Most recently, Copp and Dash were among eight American climbers who authored an AAC membership-drive letter, which mailed a few days before they were known to be missing.
The AAC is extremely grateful to the Chinese Mountaineering Association and the Sichuan Mountaineering Association for their help in the search operation, along with climbers and donors from around the world who are helping out. A blog at the website of the Adventure Film Festival, which Copp founded, is posting frequent updates on the search. Here you can also make a much-needed donation to support the search fund.
The AAC is helping to coordinate a memorial service for the lost climbers. Details will be announced soon.
In the photo: From left, Micah Dash, Jonny Copp, and Wade Johnson. Courtsey of Adventurefilm.org.