Mugelnoos
(joint newsletter of Rock Climbing Section & Ski Mountaineers)
May 14, 1959

BOUNDARY PEAK ACCIDENT

(Ed. Note: By the time this issues goes to press, most members will already have heard of this tragic event. In order to clarify the facts, many of which were garbled in the newspaper and radio stories, Jerry Keating has written the following account. As a member of the search party, he flew over the area with Ray Van Aken in the latter's plane.)

An intense spring storm claimed the lives of two Sierra Club mountaineers during the first weekend in May as it hurled snow to as low as the 5,000-foot level of the White Mountains near Bishop.

Burl Parkinson, 55, South Pasadena, and Francis Foley, 52, La Crescenta, died May 2 after falling near the summit of 13,145-foot Boundary Peak. Their frozen bodies were found four days later by a Sierra Club search party headed by Frank Sanborn.

The two began the climb Saturday morning from the Trail Canyon roadhead in Nevada after telling friends they would return home Sunday evening Tire chains were on Parkinson's pick-up truck, indicating snow had fallen before the ascent began. Miners in the area confirmed this belief.

Dressed warmly but carrying only summit packs, the pair reached Boundary about 3 p.m. Their entry in the register gave no hint of the storm that struck about 4 p.m. It did say they intended to traverse the sharp ridge leading to Mt. Montgomery, a 13,465-footer on the Desert Peaks Section emblem list.

Whether or not the two scaled Mt. Montgomery is not known yet, for none of the searchers went that far. However, it is known that the climbers fell while heading back toward the roadhead. Normally the area near the summit of Boundary is not hazardous. But it proved so to two exhausted men who were struggling over slippery talus and though fresh snow.

The bodies were virtually covered by snow when found at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Both men still wore their summit packs, but no rope was found. Marines who helped with the recovery Friday said Foley suffered a broken neck, while Parkinson sustained a broken ankle. An autopsy later showed both also suffered head injuries in the 100-foot tumble. Cause of death was listed as head injuries and exposure.

The searchers theorized the men were groping through a blizzard without their glasses on when the fall came. Foley landed on top of Parkinson and was clutching the elder climber's belt.

Sanborn formed the search party Tuesday night after Nevada authorities failed to take action. Seven climbers--Sanborn, Jon and George Shinno, Bud Bingham, Don Clarke, Tom Amneus and Jerry Keating--left Glendale at 1 a.m. Wednesday. Keating was let out at Inyokern Airport to guide Ray Van Aken and plane to the spot where it was believed the pick-up truck would be found. Nine mountain rescue team members from China Lake Naval Ordnance Test Station left shortly after 6 a.m. to join the ground search. Most of them were Sierra Clubbers, including Carl Heller, the leader. (Ed. note: At least 14 other volunteers, most of them SPS or RCS members, arrived at the Trail Canyon roadhead Wednesday night and Thursday morning.)

Parkinson's truck was spotted from the air despite low clouds, and the ground forces made plans to scale the mountain. The clouds began to lift after 11 a.m. as the searchers trudged upward through soft snow. A CAP plane from Bishop joined the aerial search, but no sign of the missing men could be seen from above. Then Jon Shinno detected clothing protruding from the snow and confirmed the tragedy.

Parkinson joined the Sierra Club in 1957 and was most active in the Sierra Peaks Section, of which he was Social Committee Chairman. He headed the Pasadena Group and was serving temporarily as Schedule Committee Chairman for the Angeles Chapter. He also was to lead a tin can pickup outing into the Whitney area this summer.

Foley also participated largely in Sierra Peaks Section activities, having qualified for membership early this year. He joined the Club in 1958.

J.K.

Addendum by Jerry Keating - 2005: It was later determined that both men also reached the summit of Montgomery Peak after first climbing Boundary.