Mount McKinley Claims First Death Since 1998

[lisa]

Mount McKinley Claims First Death Since 1998

July 01, 2002

 

Anchorage Daily News Nicole Tsong, Anchorage Daily News

 

A solo climber descending Mount McKinley in Denali National Park tumbled 1,000 feet to his death early Sunday, the National Park Service said.

 

It is the first death on 20,320-foot Mount McKinley since 1998, the National Park Service said.

 

The Park Service is not identifying the climber until his relatives are notified. Spokesman Doug Stockdale said the climber was not an American.

 

The man was descending near 18,000 feet on treacherous Denali Pass on the West Buttress route when he fell. Before that, he was seen by other climbers just below the summit at 20,100 feet.

 

Denali Pass is steep and icy with a slope of up to 45 degrees, Stockdale said.

 

"It's a challenging part because of the steep angle, and it's a traverse going across," he said. "And . . . there's ice, which complicates things."

 

According to Park Service records, this is the sixth death on the pass since 1980. Mount McKinley is North America's tallest mountain.

 

Climbers and a Park Service ranger at the 17,200-foot camp saw the man plummet from the slope just after midnight. A ranger was able to reach the body and confirm the climber was dead around 2:30 a.m., Stockdale said.

 

Weather, which was clear at the time, likely wasn't a factor in the accident, he said.

 

But variable weather since has hampered the recovery. The body had not been brought down from the mountain as of Sunday afternoon.

 

The climber flew into the Mount McKinley base camp on June 19 from Talkeetna, but not much else is known about his climb, Stockdale said. He is reported to have climbed other mountains, possibly in Latin America.

 

The climb to the summit can be difficult to pace, said Bruce Andrews, a guide for Alaska Mountaineering School and Alaska Denali Guiding in Talkeetna. Climbers get exhausted during the 12 to 14 hours it takes to summit from the high camp and return.

 

That can lead to mistakes like catching a crampon on clothing or stumbling on the terrain, he said.

 

"Generally we see people putting maximum output to get to the summit and are not leaving enough in the reserve tank for the descent," he said. "They're very tired, and these sort of things happen."

 

And the man was climbing alone, which meant he didn't have a backup rope system with other climbers, Andrews said.

 

"There aren't any handrails up there for a soloist," he said.

 

The last known fatalities on Mount McKinley occurred in 1998. A climbing guide fell to his death in June that year while descending the West Buttress Ridge. A Canadian also slid to his death down the same stretch of mountain earlier that year. And hours later, a volunteer park mountaineer ranger who was trying to rescue the Canadian disappeared down the same slope.

 

In 1997, one climber died on the mountain. In 1996, two died, in 1995 six. A record 11 climbers died on McKinley in 1992.

 

Sunday's death is not the first fatality for Denali National Park this year, however. On June 17, three Anchorage-area brothers attempting to summit Mount Foraker fell 2,000 feet to their deaths.

 

Mount Foraker is the second-tallest peak in the Alaska range and the third-tallest in Alaska, but it is considered a more technically challenging climb than McKinley.

 

More than 1,200 climbers registered to climb McKinley this year. According to the Park Service, 183 climbers are still on the mountain.

 

Reporter Nicole Tsong can be reached at mailto:ntsong@adn.comor907 257-4450.

 

This material Copyright 2002 Anchorage Daily News, Anchorage AK

[Dru]

Weather prevents recovery

McKinley climber who died in fall identified as Canadian man

 

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A climber who fell to his death early Sunday on Mount McKinley has been identified as a 61-year-old Canadian man. Michael Heck of Whitevale, Ont., was on a solo climb when he fell to his death just after midnight Sunday. Park officials believe Heck had reached the summit and was descending.

Heck fell about 300 metres from the 5,486-metre level on Denali Pass.

 

Inclement weather has prevented the park service from recovering the body.

 

Climbers and a National Park Service ranger at a 5,242-metre camp witnessed the fall and tried to help Heck.

 

The fatality was the first on the 6,193-metre mountain this year, and the first since 1998. Mount McKinley is North America's highest mountain.

 

Park spokesman Doug Stockdale said the area where Heck fell is a treacherous stretch of the West Buttress route used by most climbers. The stretch is icy and has a slope of up to 45 degrees. Since 1980, six climbers have died there, he said.

 

Stockdale said 1,231 climbers registered to climb Mount McKinley this year and 183 remain on the mountain.

 

© The Canadian Press, 2002