Two climbers fell about 1,000 feet while climbing the 8400-foot Mount Johnson in Denali National Park and Preserve on Thursday night. This was the first fatality and rescue of the season.
Robbi Mecus, age 52 of Keene Valley, NY, died of injuries sustained in the fall. The surviving partner, a 30-year-old woman from California, sustained serious injuries. She was rescued by National Park Service mountaineering rangers on Friday morning and flown by air ambulance to an Anchorage hospital.
The two women were climbing “the Escalator,” a steep route of mixed ice, snow, and rock on Thursday night. Denali National Park Director of Interpretation and Education Paul Ollig says that Mount Johnson sees a consistent number of climbers each year, with about five to ten groups attempting annually. Ollig says night climbs are normal because conditions are poorer during the heat of the day when the danger of overhead rockfalls increases.
Another climbing party saw the incident and reported it to rangers. The climbers descended to the two that fell. They dug a snow cave and tended to the surviving climbers’ injuries while waiting for a rescue helicopter.
The surviving climber was rescued on Friday morning by two mountaineering rangers and flown to Talkeetna. She was then flown to Anchorage for advanced medical treatment.
Weather conditions prevented the pilot and rangers from returning to Mount Johnson to recover Mecus’ body until Saturday morning.
Denali National Park Superintendent Brooke Merrell says she is grateful for the rescue efforts of the Denali mountaineering rangers and the two good Samaritans. She extends her thoughts and condolences to friends and family of Robbi Mecus.
