Shaun Mackelprang was found alive Wednesday morning near a lake in the Wind River Range after going missing for six days on a climb to Gannett Peak. Searchers found the 55-year-old dehydrated and disoriented, then started an IV and prepared to fly him by helicopter to a local medical facility.
The news reached his family less than a half-hour before Romel Mackelprang spoke about it, and he said the moment was overwhelming. He said the family had learned Shaun had made it to the summit of Wyoming’s tallest peak because he signed the book there, a detail that gave searchers the confirmation they needed after days of uncertainty.
Shaun set out Thursday from the Green River Lakes area with plans to climb Gannett Peak, which rises to 13,804 feet. He summited on Friday and was expected back Saturday, but bad weather and thunderstorms in the mountains delayed concern until Sunday, when the family realized something was wrong. By then, search teams were already working through a wide stretch of rugged country in Sublette County.
What still did not fully add up was the descent. Romel said the family knew his brother reached the top, but they still did not know exactly what happened coming back down. He said he believed Shaun clearly became disoriented on the return trip, and searchers used the summit registry to narrow the hunt after the climb had ended. That is the part that matters now: he was found, but the reason he lost his way on the mountain is still not fully known.
Romel said Shaun had been working his way through the highest points in all 50 states, a goal that made the climb to Gannett Peak part of a much longer personal project. For now, the family is waiting on word about whether he suffered any significant injuries, while searchers move him toward care and the questions around his descent remain open.
