Michael Ybarra Dead

Freelance writer and Los Angeles native Michael J. Ybarra was killed while mountain climbing in the Sawtooth Ridge area on the edge of Yosemite National Park over the weekend, authorities said Thursday. He was 45.

Ybarra was climbing alone when he fell anywhere from 150 to 200 feet in this isolated and rugged region of the park, according to Kari Cobb, spokeswoman for Yosemite.

When he did not return home last Sunday from his one-day trip, Ybarra’s family and friends contacted Mono County search-and-rescue personnel.

After conducting an extensive search, Ybarra’s body was spotted by a Mono County helicopter Tuesday, Cobb said. Yosemite National Park authorities retrieved the body Wednesday when a helicopter became available to airlift him out of the area.

Accidents of this severity are not frequent, according to Cobb. More than 100 climbing accidents occur at Yosemite each year and of these, 15 to 25 parties do require a rescue, according to the park's website.The area of the Sierra Nevadas was without trails and only traversed by veteran climbers. After Ybarra, 45, did not return a friend's calls, emails or texts Sunday night, the friend contacted search-and-rescue personnel Monday, the Wall Street Journal reports.

A multi-agency search team could not find the climber Monday so a National Guard crew assisted the search via a Blackhawk helicopter, KRNY reports. The helicopter crew located Ybarra's body on the steep western flank between Cleaver Peak and Matterhorn Peak, the tallest peak in the Sawtooth Ridge. Although the body was found Tuesday, a helicopter was not available to airlift it out until Wednesday, the Times reports.