Reid Poinier Sanders, 30, disappeared on April 8, 2002, during an attempted ski descent of Mount St. Elias in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Sanders was part of a four-person expedition that had camped at about 10,000 feet and pushed higher; one member, Greg Von Dorsten, stayed behind with frostbitten hands while Sanders, Aaron Martin and John Griber reached the 18,008-foot summit late in the day.

Griber later described hearing a swishing sound and seeing Martin slide an estimated 4,000 feet down the Tyndall Glacier. Griber called for Sanders and got no reply. He searched for hours, sheltered overnight in a crevasse, and descended the next day to rejoin Von Dorsten. An air taxi pilot reported a snow message reading two dead, two need rescue; an Alaska National Guard mission evacuated Griber and Von Dorsten. A later aerial search located a body and gear about 3,000 feet below the peak, but recovery was not possible at that time. Sanders was a mountaineering guide who ran a backcountry skiing business and is presumed to have perished in the fall.

Are there climbers or pilots who were on or near Mount St. Elias in April 2002 with information about the descent or the later aerial sightings?