Missing Hiker Found Dead After 1,000-Foot Fall from Mt. Whitney in California's Sequoia National Park

Abigail Adams
·2 min read
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Park officials said Tom Gerbier, an Air France pilot, seemingly fell off a cliff in an area known as “The Notch”

<p>NPS</p> Crews conduct search for missing French hiker Tom Gerbier

NPS

Crews conduct search for missing French hiker Tom Gerbier

A missing Air France pilot was found dead after disappearing while hiking California’s highest mountain, according to authorities.

Tom Gerbier, of Fontenay-sous-Bois, France, was reported missing on Wednesday after “he didn’t show up for his return flight,” the National Park Service said in a news release on Friday.

The 38-year-old attempted to hike Mt. Whitney in California's Sequoia National Park the previous day, according to the park service and Inyo County Search and Rescue.

Park officials said Gerbier seemingly fell “about 1,000 feet” off a cliff in an area known as “The Notch.”

Related: University of Georgia Student Dies in 90-Foot Fall While Rock Climbing in Northeastern Alabama

Ground teams were beginning to summit the mountain on the Mountaineering Route when they noticed clues that suggested a hiker may have fallen in the area.

A park service helicopter eventually found a “motionless hiker.” His body was recovered from the scene and later identified by the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office.

Air France did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

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This is the second death at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks this year, according to the park service.

Mount Whitney is considered “the most frequently climbed mountain peak in the Sierra Nevada,” per the park service’s website.

Related: 1 Dead, 2 Injured After Vehicle Plunges Off Cliff in California, Police Say

Day hikers typically select the Mount Whitney Trail, a “a non-technical, but strenuous” 22-mile round-trip hike that can take between 12 and 14 hours to complete.

The route is said to challenge “even very fit hikers,” and is typically snow free from July to late September. When it is snowy or icy, hikers must have the proper “winter mountaineering skills and equipment” required to hike safely.

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