Rescuers in the steep Sierra Este are looking for a Seattle man who has been disappeared since the beginning of September, and possibly longer, after climbing among some of the most remote and discouraging mountain peaks in California.
Billy Pierson, an experienced mountaineer, was getting fit for an upcoming trip to Nepal, according to a comment that his brother, Steve Pierson, left on Facebook.
On August 9, the mountaineer was walking with a friend. “After his walk, he separated from that friend and believed that he went to Inyo County,” said the Sheriff's office of Inyo County in a press release. “Later he was reported as missing on September 10, 2025”.
It was not clear immediately when Billy Pierson separated from his friend, or who was the person who reported him missing. Inyo's County Sheriff's office did not immediately respond to a comment request on Monday.
Billy Pierson, an experienced mountaineer, was getting fit for an upcoming trip to Nepal.
(Inyo County Sheriff)
It is believed that Pierson was trying the Palisades traverse, a route of classical and technical mountaineering along the Sierra crest that covers about 20 miles and crosses the summits of five highest mountains of 14,000 feet.
In addition to climbing the challenging peaks, mountaineers also often have to navigate the Palisades glacier, one of the last true glaciers that remain in California.
Steve Pierson said that his brother's plan was to start, or finish, his epic trip in Temple Crag, a family milestone to the seasoned climbers and hikers of Sierra that rises on the magnificent and fed to the great lakes of Pino.
Inyo's County Sheriff's Office, working with the search and rescue of Inyo County, toured the area around Temple Crag without success.
Pierson measures 5'9 “, 165 pounds, and was known for the last time he wore a large backpack, navy blue or gray. He wore black and yellow shoes and liked to walk on a baseball cap with a handkerchief underneath.
The news that Pierson is missing follows several other incidents this summer in which hikers were dangerously lost or found dead.
On September 12, an Argentine climber fell 2,000 feet to his death on Mount Shasta. The 45 -year -old technology executive had accumulated successfully, but lost its course in the descent, ending in the Wintum Wintum of steep and ice cream. He tried a controlled slide to reach the security of a path underneath, but lost control, crashed with a rock and finally slid the length of the glacier.
Also in September, a man from San Luis Obispo County, Kirk Thomas-Olsen, 61, was found dead in Yosemite National Park more than 20 days after he was expected to return from his solo walk.
In August, a hiking of the Boy Scouts troop in the desert of emigrants north of Yosemite National Park met a 78 -year -old man who had spent a night without food, water or shelter in the mountains. He had lost his backpack and seemed incoherent when the explorers found him and accompanied him to a safe place.
