Two climbers reported missing on California’s Mount Whitney are found dead

INDEPENDENCE, Calif. (AP) — Two climbers reported missing this week on California’s towering Mount Whitney have been found dead, officials said Thursday.

A friend who had been with the climbers called authorities Tuesday evening after they failed to arrive at their campsite as planned, the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The friend said the couple planned to ski or snowboard from the “notch,” a flat area where climbers often rest, to their camp at Upper Boy Scout Lake.

A helicopter crew and teams on the runways began a search.

“Tragically, both hikers were later found dead,” the sheriff’s statement said. Her identity was not immediately released.

Because the bodies were in neighboring Tulare County, the case is being handled by that county’s sheriff-coroner’s office.

Located in the central Sierra Nevada, Mount Whitney is the highest point in the United States outside of Alaska, with a peak of 14,500 feet (4,420 meters).