Arden Hills filmmaker overdue in China

Wade Johnson and two mountain climbers from Colorado haven't been heard from since May 20. His parents are trying to arrange a search.

By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Last update: June 5, 2009 - 12:06 AM

A filmmaker from the Twin Cities and two other mountain climbers in China haven't been heard from for at least two weeks, and his parents are trying to stage a private helicopter search into the nation's rugged central interior in hopes of finding the three.

Wade Johnson, 24 and a 2007 Carleton College graduate who is from Arden Hills, went to Mount Edgar in China's Sichuan Province as part of an expedition, Johnson's parents said in an e-mail to friends that details their son's plight at the 21,712-foot mountain.

"Our son and the two climbers are three days overdue, and there is no information about their whereabouts," father Bruce Johnson said in a telephone interview Thursday afternoon. The couple have since declined to answer further questions.

The Johnsons on Thursday also requested that Carleton use its overseas connections to help locate their son, a school spokesman said.

Johnson was working in China for Sender Films, a maker of climbing and outdoor adventure films based in Boulder, Colo. A brief bio on the Sender Films website describes Wade Johnson as "an avid climber and passionate filmmaker" who is the newest member of its team.

A Sender Films blog entry indicates the three have been on this trek since at least mid-May. "We wish them success and a safe return," the blog read at one point.

Sender Films' Nick Rosen said Thursday that Wade Johnson and climbers Micah Dash and Jonny Copp, both from Boulder, Colo., were last heard from on May 20. They were to board a plane in China on Tuesday and return home Wednesday, Rosen said. The three did not make their flight, he said.

Rosen, while trying not to downplay the seriousness of the climbers' plight, said he considers the climbers "late" or delayed" -- rather than missing -- because this is not necessarily "an unusual situation."

A longtime friend and fellow climber of Dash's said the combination of being out of touch for more than two weeks and missing the flight home has her worried.

"It could be a bad sign," said Amelia Patterson, of Boulder, Colo. "Bad weather could be keeping them from leaving, but it doesn't necessarily mean that something happened. ... I hope it ends well."

Bruce and Susan Johnson, in their e-mail addressed to friends, said they are trying to arrange their own helicopter search should a ground rescue that has been initiated fails.

"If [the searchers] are not successful, it is imperative that we engage a helicopter to search the mountain," they wrote in their e-mail. "We are advised that the Chinese government will not send out a search-and-rescue team."

"At this point, our contacts in China have been unable to arrange for a helicopter search," the e-mail said. "So, if you have any contacts or information that could help us to expedite getting a private helicopter that would be allowed to search Mt. Edgar, it would be invaluable."

Carleton spokesman Eric Sieger said, "We have some faculty members who have connections with the Chinese government" who are being asked to assist the family of Wade Johnson, who graduated with an undergraduate degree in chemistry.

Dash and Copp, both in their 30s, are professional climbers making this trip with grant funding, Rosen said. Wade Johnson, Rosen said, was along on the climb at Sender Films' expense.

Sender Films is working on a television project with National Geographic, Rosen said, but Wade Johnson's work in China is not included.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482

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