Climber dies, another seriously hurt after 1,000-foot fall on Alaska peak

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU/Gray News) - A person died and another was seriously hurt after falling roughly 1,000 feet down a steep slope at Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska on Thursday night.

The National Park Service reported that the two climbers were going up the 8,400-foot Mount Johnson — which towers over the Ruth Gorge and is a popular area for mountaineers — when they fell on the technical route that park officials described as featuring a mix of steep rock, ice, and snow.

The park service identified the deceased climber as 52-year-old Robbi Mecus of Keene Valley, N.Y. The surviving clumber, a 30-year-old woman from California, was rescued by Denali’s high-altitude helicopter pilot and two National Park Service mountaineering rangers on Friday morning. She was taken to Talkeetna and then to an Anchorage hospital by helicopter.

The two climbers were roped, Denali park officials said and were working their way up the Escalator, a 5,000-foot section that is steep and technical.

Officials said another group of climbers saw the fall and alerted the Alaska Regional Communication Center around 10:45 p.m. Thursday before making their way down to the area where the two people had ended up. Once there, officials say the second group stayed with the surviving member through the night by digging a snow cave.

A high-altitude rescue helicopter responded to the area from Talkeetna around 7 a.m. Friday, where rescue crews used ropes to drop a mountaineering ranger at the site and pick the injured climber up, taking them to a flat staging area on the glacier in the Ruth Gorge.

Rescue crews later attempted to return to the site to retrieve the body of the dead climber, but deteriorating weather kept them from reaching the body, park officials said.

Park rangers were eventually able to access the area and recovered the climber’s body on Saturday morning.

Denali National Park Superintendent Brooke Merrell expressed her sympathies to the climbers.

“We are grateful for the rescue efforts of Denali mountaineering rangers and the two good Samaritans on Mt. Johnson who helped save a fellow climber’s life,” Merrell said. “We extend our thoughts and condolences to the friends and family of Robbi Mecus”.

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