Three climbers from Mount McKinley, Alaska, who fell near a dangerous pass on North America’s highest peak have died, a group of Latvian climbers announced Friday. A fourth climber was rescued.
The four men were members of a Latvian mountaineering expedition, the group said. They were part of a seven-person team hiking a route known for its exposed sections — where many injuries and deaths have occurred over the years — when they fell Wednesday, the National Park Service said.
McKinley is at about 20,310 feet, and the climber who was rescued was brought down the mountain to about 17,200 feet by Denali National Park and Preserve search and rescue personnel Thursday afternoon. A long helicopter line was used for rescue because terrain and conditions prevented the helicopter from landing, the park service said Friday. The climber was then airlifted to a hospital.
The fall occurred while climbing near Denali Pass, which is about 18,200 feet, the park service said. He provided a few other details. The three other members of the climbing group participated in the rescue operations and began suffering from “declining physical conditions,” the park service said. Crews evacuated them from the mountain Friday.
The group was on the West Buttress route, the most popular route to the summit. It is known for its crevasses, steep ice and exposed ridges.
Over the years, many injuries and deaths have occurred while crossing between an area known as High Camp at about 17,200 feet and Denali Pass, mostly due to unprotected falls, according to the park. Most of the deaths along the pass occurred during the climbers’ descent.
Park rangers and mountain guides install and maintain snow stakes — which are used to help build anchors for additional protection on areas like steep slopes — between High Camp and Denali Pass, the park said. This area is also known as the Autobahn, a snow and ice slope that can be marked by conditions ranging from deep snow with avalanche danger to hard ice, the agency said.
Climbers can set up their own stakes if necessary, but “you might even have to hammer them into very, very dense snow and ice,” said climber Clint Helander, who has summited McKinley and been to the mountain several times.
Intense glaciation, rapid weather changes, the summit’s altitude and scale make climbing McKinley “a huge undertaking,” he said. Climbers also have to carry a significant amount of equipment for what can be long expeditions, he said.
“It’s extremely easy for something to happen and turn an otherwise simple trip into an epic,” Helander said.
Only 1,000 to 1,200 climbers attempt to reach the summit of Mount McKinley each year, mostly in May and June. The trip typically takes about 17 days, and fewer than half reached the summit last year, according to park statistics.
More than 130 people have died on the mountain during the park’s history, including two deaths last year, according to park statistics. In 2012, four Japanese climbers were killed after a shallow avalanche pushed them into a crevasse.
As of Thursday, there were 516 climbers on the mountain, said Scott Carr, a park service spokesman.
Two other climbers who were not part of the fallen group were evacuated from the mountain by helicopter Wednesday, according to the park service.