Adventure photographer and filmmaker Cody Tuttle died Wednesday in a paragliding accident in the Southern Sierra Nevada. At approximately 1:20 pm, an Inyo County Sheriff’s dispatch received notification of an emergency InReach activation north of Striped Mountain near the Sierra Crest, south of Taboose Pass, California.
Further investigation revealed that the device was registered to Cody Tuttle, a 32-year old man from Swall Meadows above Bishop, CA. Tuttle was reported to be on a paragliding trip to Gabbs Nevada with two fellow paraglider pilots.
Inyo Sheriff requested aerial assistance from California Highway Patrol Inland Division Air Operations (H-80), as well as a helicopter from Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park (SEKI). The SEKI helicopter located Tuttle at 12,600’ elevation and confirmed that he was deceased. CHP H-80 attempted to extract Tuttle, but due to altitude and afternoon heat, they were unable to complete the recovery.
On August 15, CHP Coastal Division Air Operations (H-70) responded and recovered Tuttle; he was flown to the Bishop Airport where custody was transferred to the Inyo County Coroner.
Rest in peace Cody-there’s no better place than you had to surrender your “body of life” back into the circle of life my brother, may you fly higher than you ever dreamed of.