California, Mt. Whitney area. On 1 September David Slaton (17), Richard Bisson, David Smith and two adults, Jack Richer and Larry Stidam started up from Whitney Portals. Soon thereafter, Slaton showed signs of being affected by the altitude. Richer decided the others should go on while he remained behind with Slaton. Richer and Slaton spent the night at Outpost Camp. The next morning Slaton seemed better, but Richer thought he had not recovered sufficiently to follow the others. He left Slaton at the Camp while he went on to locate the others. During his absence Slaton attempted to do some solo rock climbing, slipped, and fell some 40 feet to his death.

Source: Newspaper clippings and Dennis Burgh.