denali incident
Climber learns costly lesson on a punishing Mount McKinley
CRAIG MEDRED; Anchorage Daily News
Last updated: May 15th, 2005 02:40 AM
EVAN R. STEINHAUSER/ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS
His native Italy is shipping Mount McKinley climber David Bergamin a new passport, but he’s dependent on the kindness of Alaskan strangers, it appears, to replace his plane ticket home.
ANCHORAGE – High on the slopes of Mount McKinley, Italian climber David Bergamin made a tiny mistake that can prove costly, even deadly, in the harsh environment surrounding the continent’s tallest peak.
Safely back in Anchorage now, Bergamin finds himself a temporarily penniless and unidentifiable foreigner, but he’s lucky.
He’s alive.
Two Ohio climbers lost their lives Tuesday on the mountain because of what appears to be something as simple as a slip or a stumble. National Park Service rangers are still trying to determine how 55-year-old identical twin brothers Jerry and Terry Humphrey fell to their deaths.
Against such tragedy, Bergamin’s loss of a passport, a plane ticket, spare food, extra fuel and other gear at the Motorcycle Hill camp near 11,000 feet might seem insignificant. But it illustrates how little mistakes can quickly become big problems on cold, snowy McKinley.
On his way to the mountain’s 20,320-foot summit in April, Bergamin cached his passport, cash, plane ticket, spare food, extra fuel and other gear in a pit at a camp site.