Denali National Park and Preserve rescue personnel evacuated one of the two Malaysian climbers that have been waiting for help since Tuesday. The surviving climber says his partner died in their snow cave about two days prior. Cloud cover and winds complicated earlier rescue attempts.
The two climbers created a crude snow cave at the Football Field, a flat area at 19,600 feet. The third climber on their team was rescued on Tuesday night after he was able to descend to 17,200 feet.
Late Thursday night, the Park’s high altitude helicopter pilot was able to reach the Football Field. The pilot dropped a duffle bag of survival gear near the climbers’ snow cave. Winds were still too strong to attempt a short-haul basket extraction.
The Park’s helicopter and one Ranger returned to the area at around 6 am Friday. The winds calmed enough to extract the surviving climber with a basket. He was flown to Kahiltna Base Camp at 7,200 feet. From there, he was flown to Talkeetna and then transferred to a LifeMed air ambulance.
Ranger operations are shifting to a recovery effort for the deceased climber in the coming days.
