One climber was killed and another seriously injured after falling nearly 1,000 feet from the summit of a mountain in Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve late Thursday, officials said.
The roped climbers were ascending the 8,400-foot Mount Johnson along a route known as the Escalator. This route is a steep and technical climb up the southeast face of the summit.
The 5,000-foot route requires navigating through steep rock, ice and snow, the National Park Service said in a statement.
Another climber witnessed the fall and called the Alaska Regional Communications Center around 10:45 p.m. Thursday. Climbers descended to the victim and confirmed that one climber was dead.
“Response crews dug snow caves and treated the injuries of the surviving climbers throughout the night,” the statement said.
The park's high-altitude rescue helicopter and two climbing rangers from Talkeetna, a village at the base of Denali, responded early Friday.
One of the rangers and the injured climber were taken to a holding area on the flat glacier and then to Talkeetna, where the patient was transported by medical helicopter for further treatment.
The condition of the injured climber was not known as of Saturday, and neither climber was publicly identified.
The rescue helicopter pilot returned to the scene but was unable to retrieve the body of the deceased climber due to bad weather, the Park Service said. The rangers plan to return once the weather improves.
