Two missing climbers likely fell while climbing high on the West Ridge route of the Moose’s Tooth in Denali National Park and Preserve on Friday, May 5.
Moose’s Tooth is a 10,300-foot peak near Ruth Gorge. The two climbers, 34-year-old Eli Michel of Indiana and 32-year-old Nafiun Awal of Seattle failed to check in with a friend. Search efforts for the two climbers began on Sunday, May 7.
Denali National Park mountaineering rangers and the park’s contracted helicopter pilot stationed in Talkeetna conducted two flight missions each on Sunday and Monday, for nearly eight flight hours. Crevasses and the potential for avalanches and rockfalls restricted the crew to only helicopter searches. Ground searches were conducted by a mountaineering ranger harnessed to the end of a helicopter short-haul rope.
Clues collected in the two days of searching include the team’s vacant tent site with ski and boot tracks leading up into a small slab avalanche near the top of the West Ridge route. Several pieces of the climber’s equipment were also sighted along the 3,200-foot fall line, including two ice axes and a climbing helmet.
The aerial search for the two missing men will continue when the weather allows, with a focus on the base of the fall line. Current weather conditions in the Ruth Gorge include low visibility and snowfall, with no flight activity expected on Tuesday, May 9.
Maureen Gualtieri, Public Information Officer with Denali National Park and Preserve, says the Park will provide updated information as it becomes available.
