Serious mountain incidents ‘can happen to anyone,’ rescuers say after 4 California adventurers’ deaths

For Central Valley climbers and backpackers who treat the Eastern Sierra as a second backyard, 2026 has delivered a sobering ledger.

Four separate incidents — a fall from a 13,748-foot peak, a death on Mount Whitney, a climbing accident in the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness and a paragliding crash on a Fresno County launch — have left families mourning and search-and-rescue teams working some of the most demanding terrain in the range.

Here is what reporting has established about each case, and the technical conditions that shaped them.

Mount Morgan: A fall at the base of Grand Central Couloir

Brian Seibert, 54, an avid “peak bagger,” set off up Mount Morgan near Bishop on the evening of Oct. 4, starting via the North Ridge around 7 p.m., according to the Mono County Sheriff Search and Rescue Team. Reports of an overdue hiker came in more than seven hours later, at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 5.

The search ramped up quickly. A California Highway Patrol helicopter from Fresno flew aerial grids. Investigators pulled “extensive cell phone forensics data” and photo metadata to narrow a search pattern. A K9 team worked outward from Seibert’s vehicle. Rescuers later confirmed he had ascended the North Ridge and found his entry in the summit registry. Before he died, he sent a text saying he was heading back.

“Cell phone forensics indicated he may have begun his descent the same way he ascended, via the North Ridge,” rescuers said.

Inyo County Search and Rescue, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and the California National Guard all joined the effort. At 2 p.m. Oct. 6, searchers spotted an anomaly near the base of Grand Central Couloir below the main summit.

“The discovery led rescuers directly to Seibert’s body,” Mono County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue said. He had “sustained an unsurvivable fall from a cliff band at the base of the couloir.” The terrain was too technical for a safe nighttime recovery; crews returned the following day with help from Yosemite National Park and Friends of Yosemite Search and Rescue.

Mount Morgan tops out at 13,748 feet, south of Mammoth Lakes and north of Bishop. SummitPost.org calls it the 31st-highest peak in California and the highest in the Rock Creek area. AllTrails rates the 10.6-mile route, with 4,071 feet of gain, as “highly challenging,” ending in an “extremely steep, exposed scramble over loose rock and scree.” The site says “extreme caution, surefootedness and proper route-finding skills are essential.”

The all-volunteer Mono County team said it typically responds to 30 to 50 missions a year, “often in adverse and dangerous mountain conditions.”

“The team sends its heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and Eastside community for the loss of Brian Seibert,” the team wrote. “We rescuers understand that serious incidents in the mountains can happen to anyone.”

Mount Whitney: Another death on the contiguous U.S. high point

Kalem Peter Kazarian, 52, of Fowler — a Fresno contractor who owned Kazarian Custom Homes and served as president of Impact Construction — was hiking Mount Whitney in Sequoia National Park when he died. National Park Service personnel located his body in the Mount Whitney area on Oct. 4, according to Holly Streit, public affairs specialist at Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks.

“The body was recovered and removed from the wilderness the following day, as safe conditions allowed,” Streit said.

As of Oct. 9, authorities had not determined cause of death or precisely where Kazarian died. The Tulare County Coroner’s Office said pathology work was scheduled for the following week.

At 14,505 feet, Mount Whitney is the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States and, per the National Park Service, the most frequently climbed peak in the Sierra Nevada. AllTrails lists the Mount Whitney Trail as a 22.1-mile out-and-back with 6,564 feet of gain and at least 13.5 hours on the clock, “past rocky switchbacks, sheer cliffs, and flowing waterfalls.”

Kazarian’s death is one of several on the peak in roughly a year. In October 2025, a hiker died after falling from an icy trail at the 99 Switchbacks and plunging over a cliff. Hiker Joseph Brambila went missing in November attempting a solo summit on his 21st birthday; his body was recovered roughly a month later in the 99 Switchbacks area, the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office said. In January, another hiker died trying to summit Mount Whitney solo after their partner turned back, according to Inyo County Search and Rescue.

The pattern on Whitney — icy switchbacks, solo attempts, late-season conditions — is the one experienced hikers tend to flag first.

Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness: A record-setting climber killed in a fall

Jacob “Jake” Whisenant, 30, a well-known Mammoth Lakes climber, died Aug. 2 after what the National Park Service called a “climbing-related incident” in the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness. He was “found deceased by rangers” after a two-day search-and-rescue and recovery operation, the agency told The Fresno Bee. The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office attributed his death to blunt force trauma.

Whisenant had made his name on El Capitan. In 2024, he and partner Brant Hysell climbed the Lurking Fear route in 2 hours, 55 minutes and 32 seconds. In May, he and Noah Fox completed the Nose twice in a day, the second lap in 14 hours and 38 minutes, per the Yosemite Climbing Association.

His friend Baile Moore announced his death on Instagram. “Our family is absolutely devastated by this news but find solace in the fact that Jake died doing what he loves in the beautiful Sierra Nevada,” Moore wrote. “I will look for you in every life, my brother. Now go rest high up on that mountain.”

His fiancee, Emma London, called the decade she spent with him — “a big-hearted mountain goat” — the “honor of a lifetime.”

Burrough Mountain: A paragliding crash in Fresno County

The fourth incident is closer to home. A paraglider died May 31 after crashing into dense, brush-covered terrain on Burrough Mountain in eastern Fresno County, shortly after takeoff near Tollhouse Road. Crews responded at 11:19 a.m. to initial reports of a hang glider striking a tree.

Cal Fire spokesperson Zach Irion said the pilot experienced an apparent in-flight emergency shortly after takeoff. Several other paragliders were at the launch preparing to fly. Some bystanders, including an off-duty Bay Area fire captain, hiked down to try to help.

The pilot was pronounced dead. Responders used hand tools and chainsaws to cut through brush and trees to reach the victim. A California Highway Patrol helicopter lowered a paramedic for the recovery. Authorities have not yet determined what caused the pilot to lose control.

What ties the four together

The incidents span wildly different disciplines — peak bagging, trail hiking, technical climbing, free flight — but share recognizable risk factors familiar to Sierra regulars: exposed descents on loose rock, solo travel at altitude, late starts, and terrain so technical that even well-resourced SAR teams need multiple days and multi-agency coordination to reach victims. For Fresno-area adventurers heading east into the range, the record of 2026 is a reminder that the Sierra does not forgive small margins.

Original stories by Anthony Galaviz and Gagandeep Singh.

This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence based on our own originally reported, written and published content. Before publishing, journalists reviewed this content in compliance with McClatchy Media’s AI policy.

This story was originally published October 23, 2026 at 10:46 AM with the headline “Serious mountain incidents ‘can happen to anyone,’ rescuers say after 4 California adventurers’ deaths.”