I'LL FLY AWAY - Cliff Hudson in 1984 photo courtesy of the Hudson family

One of Talkeetna’s longest living residents, Cliff Hudson, died on Friday. His service is planned for Saturday with a community potluck at the Latitude 62 following the graveside service.

Pioneer Alaska bush pilot, Clifford Lowell Hudson, age 84, passed away March 5th at the Palmer Pioneer Home after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s. (more…)

aired tues – A woman is heading up to Denali’s basecamp this week to try and become the first woman to successfully summit the mountain in winter. (more…)

Roger Robinson, the mountain ranger with experience in the Alaska Range since the seventies, talks to host Maureen McLaughlin about his early years in climbing, his first climbs in Alaska, and settling in to the area as he made mountaineering his profession as well as his passion. Audio runs about a half hour.

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Denali National Park Chief Ranger Pete Armington has announced the appointment of John Leonard of Talkeetna to the position of South District Ranger. (more…)

Riccardo Cassin, the mountaineering pioneer who first climbed Mt. McKinley’s Cassin Ridge  died at his home in Italy late last week. He was 100 years old. (more…)

NPS Photo; Kreutzer explains Lama Communications

Longtime National Park Service employee Dave Kreutzer  has resigned his position at the Talkeetna Ranger Station.  After 17 seasons of employment in Talkeetna, he has taken a permanent position in Yellowstone National Park. (more…)

Two men died of injuries sustained in a fall on Mount McKinley Thursday, June 11^th.  (more…)

The mysterious disappearance of 2 missing Japanese climbers on Denali’s infamous Cassin Ridge has been solved.  Sort of.  Their bodies were found during the search for Dr. Gerald Myers who went missing a few weeks ago.

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The search effort for Dr. Gerald Myers was scaled back Tuesday afternoon.  Search managers have determined that further air operations are unlikely to locate the Denali climber, missing since last Tuesday. (more…)

The air was filled with the sounds of helicopter rotors Monday morning in Talkeetna, as NPS personnel and volunteers continue their search for the missing climber on Denali.

Strong winds and intermittent cloud cover early Sunday morning and afternoon precluded safe search coverage of the more probable zones high on the mountain.  The park’s A-Star B3 was
similarly unable to fly the zones safely on Sunday.  Due to flight duty day
restrictions, no more flights occurred Sunday evening.

Dr. Myers began his summit bid from the 14,200-foot camp the morning of Tuesday, May 19.  He was sighted above Denali Pass later that afternoon.  The aerial search for Myers will continue today as long as weather permits.  Grounds patrols have been searching with spotting scopes for any clues.  Hundreds of high resolution photographs have been taken and are being examined closely for clues to Myers’ disappearance.

Aerial searchers came up with no leads Friday for the climber missing since Tuesday. (more…)

An initial aerial search for an overdue climber on Denali  took place this morning (thurs) according to Park spokeswoman, Maureen McLaughlin.

Gerald Myers, a 41-year-old resident of Centennial, Colorado, began a
solo bid for the summit on Tuesday, May 19. According to a note left for his three climbing partners, Myers departed the 14,200 camp around 4:30 a.m.    Other sightings that afternoon were made
on the traverse to Denali Pass at 18, 600 feet and then again near 19,000
feet.  According to NPS rangers on patrol at high camp, Myers did not
return to camp Tuesday night.

During their investigations the following day, rangers learned that Myers
was seen by another party  approaching the mountain’s summit.   At the time, weather high on the
mountain was deteriorating with winds gusting 40 to 50 mph.

McLaughlin says that Myers was reportedly carrying skis on his backpack when he was spotted near
the summit.  Based on equipment left at various caches on the mountain, it
is expected that Myers was carrying minimal survival gear at the time of
his disappearance.  He is presumed to be carrying a SPOT locator beacon.

Aerial searching will continue as visibility and winds allow.   Rangers and volunteers at the 14-2 camp continue conducting visual searches via a spotting scope for a possible ski descent. Currently, visibility is generally obscured by clouds, with wind gusting to 45 mph near the summit.