YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. – Weather lightened up on trails around remote Eagle Peak and on the 11,300-foot peak itself, permitting a more intensive search for a Winona climber missing 10 days. The search for Austin King-Henke began a week ago Saturday with 85 personnel, two helicopters, a search dog team, and drones, concentrating mostly on higher elevation area where climbing is the most treacherous. The first days of searching were hampered the bad weather that King described to family in a telephone call from the summit. Despite deteriorating weather he was triumphant about his accomplishment, family said. The call was about 7 p.m. A concern has been that King started his descent in the dark as weather worsened. Two days later, when it was realized that King ws missing, winds were piling snow six feet deep and putting a glaze on the craggy mountain.
Dropping a ground team. Into the wilderness during a break in the weather. Eagle Peak is 14 miles from the nearest road. Images: National Park Service
Tracking the search. The National Park Service created this map of ground search patys in red and aerial sorties in blue the first day of the search.