This is the Denali Report for June 13th, 2025
As of this week, there are 940 mountaineers registered to climb Denali. 422 climbers are on the mountain at this time and 416 have finished their expeditions. There are 26 people registered to climb Mt. Foraker. Three climbers are currently on that mountain and 20 have finished their climbs.
A skier on Denali was confirmed dead earlier this week after being caught in an avalanche at Rescue Gully. The avalanche released at approximately 16,600 ft on the West Buttress Route and finished at around 15,000 ft. Nicholas Vizzini, age 29 of Washington, and his climbing partner, a snowboarder, triggered the avalanche.
National Park Service rangers were in the area and were able to begin searching within minutes. During the search, Vizzini was located and CPR was initiated, but was later discontinued. Vizzini was pronounced deceased at the scene due to traumatic injuries. Vizzini’s partner was treated for minor injuries.
In addition to the 422 climbers that are currently on Denali, there are also four National Park Service Rangers. It’s a tall order for only four rangers: treating frostbite, stomping out helicopter landing sites, coordinating rescues and performing rescues.
But the National Park Service has a secret weapon; volunteers. Volunteers have been the backbone for the National Park Service mountain ranger team since the 1970s. Ranger, Joey McBrayer, talks a little bit about the program.
“If you look at our staff we have 10-11 climbing staff or mountaineering staff that actually will get into the mountains and be on patrol. If it’s one ranger, they’ll likely have four volunteers with them.”
McBrayer explains what types of people make good volunteers.
“So we see a lot of paramedics, nurses, medical doctors, especially ones that work in the E.R. but then also have a climbing background. Ski patroller seems to be another good source for volunteers, there’s a lot of ski patrollers that come up, and a lot of folks that have spent time in the Alaska Range that look forward to helping out and being stewards in a different way rather than just enjoying the park.
The volunteer program utilizes somewhere between 30 to 40 volunteers each year. McBrayer says they couldn’t perform many of the operations they usually do without the aid of the volunteers.
“Our program depends on it. We obviously really, really appreciate them, and we have a pretty robust Rolodex of volunteers at this point too, we have some folks that have been coming back for years. Last year we had a volunteer, it was his sixth patrol that he was doing with us so he’s coming with a lot of experience.”
Volunteers accompany rangers for the first patrol each year and continue through the end of the season. Currently, there are 14 volunteer rangers on the mountain.
You’ve been listening to the Denali Report. For KTNA, I’m Colleen Love
