The climber who died after falling 1,000 feet in Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve was identified Saturday as Robbie Mekas, a well-known mountaineering enthusiast and forest ranger.
Mekas, 52, from Keene Valley, New York, was an outspoken advocate for expanding the representation of transgender people in alpine climbing. In 2022, she co-founded Queer Her Ice Fest in the Adirondack Mountains, her second homeland, and this event earlier this year was her third annual event.
Sean Maher, interim director of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, said in a statement that Mekas left his mark during his long career in the state.
“Throughout his 25-year career at DEC, Ranger Mekas demonstrated an unparalleled passion for protecting the environment and New Yorkers,” the Secretary said. “She exemplifies the Forest Rangers' high standards of professional excellence and has succeeded in promoting diversity, inclusion and LGBTQ belonging throughout the agency.”
The National Park Service said in a statement that her body was recovered Saturday morning after rescuers decided to halt the recovery effort on Friday due to difficult conditions on the park's Mount Johnson. Mekas' climbing partner survived the fall with her.
The survivor has not been identified, but the agency said she is a 30-year-old woman from California. She suffered serious injuries and was eventually taken to an Anchorage hospital after being rescued by rangers Friday morning, the park service said.
Park officials said the accident occurred Thursday night as the two were climbing a steep, technical climb on the southeast face of Mount Johnson.
The climbers were tethered to a rope on a 5,000-foot route known as the “escalator” and fell 1,000 feet, according to the Park Service.
The service said witnesses called emergency responders, fellow climbers built a snow cave to keep the survivors warm, and rescuers arrived at the scene Friday morning.
The path they used is said to be made up of ice, rocks and snow.
This treacherous route is popular with experienced climbers, who report that it can take up to 24 hours to reach the summit and return to the base, with some finding themselves in freezing rain instead of wet snow or slush. Some people prefer to climb at night, the report said. American Alpine Club.
Mekas is an experienced mountaineer who has been credited multiple times with rescuing others in the mountains of upstate New York.
Mekas, who was interviewed in 2019 as part of New York City's Trans Oral History Project, said she grew up in New York City, later married and had children, but that before deciding to get married, she “dressed as a woman and hid.” '' he told an interviewer. Her transition destroyed her marriage.
She said she worked as a ranger for the state for 17 years before transitioning in the 2010s. This is a sworn position in law enforcement that she describes as “super macho.” Although Mekas fully expected to lose her job, she said she was pleasantly surprised by the “overwhelmingly positive” reaction of her colleagues.
She drew lessons from the experience.
“I think visibility is very important,” she said. “People with privilege realized that they needed to fight for people who didn’t have that privilege.”
