2 missing climbers found dead on Mount Whitney

INDEPENDENCE — Two climbers reported missing this week on California’s towering Mount Whitney have been found dead, officials said Thursday.

A friend who had been with the climbers called authorities Tuesday night after they failed to arrive as planned at their campsite, the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The friend said the pair had planned to ski or snowboard from the “notch,” a flat area where climbers often stop to rest, down to their camp at Upper Boy Scout Lake.