No success in latest Fossett search
A team of elite athletes and expert mountaineers has ended a weeklong hunt for Steve Fossett, finding no sign of the missing adventurer or his plane, but eliminating much rugged terrain from areas that still must be searched.
The 10 searchers packed up their gear after taking a day to explore a steep canyon in Nevada's Wassuk Range, dominated by 11,239-foot-high Mount Grant.
That followed six days of hiking in the Sweetwater Mountains and Bodie Hills to the west, on the state's border with California.
The team was headed up by Canadian geologist and adventure racer Simon Donato.
"We didn't find what we were looking for, but we covered a lot of land that can basically be crossed off the (search) map now," team member Greg Francek said.
"We were looking for wreckage probably the size of one or two shopping carts - and it's hard describe the huge scale of the wild, tough country we were in. It's really something."
There were some highs during the week, such as finding a small aluminium door that appeared to have come from a plane.
However, Mr Francek said a close look at the door showed that it probably came from a snowcat, an enclosed vehicle that moves on tracks through snow.
He added the door, even if from a plane, was too old to have come from the fabric and aluminium-frame plane Fossett was flying when he disappeared last September.
While one private search for multimillionaire Fossett is over, others are continuing or are in the planning stages.
Fossett gained worldwide fame for his scores of attempts and successes in setting records in high-tech balloons, gliders, jets and boats. In 2002, he became the first person to circle the world solo in a balloon.
He was declared legally dead in February.
