Denali has its second death in a week

Denali has seen its second death in one week.  Mountaineers and rangers at the seventeen thousand-two hundred foot high-camp on Mt McKinley saw a climber fall from Denali Pass this morning.

Climbing rangers responded to the fallen climber and confirmed that 67 year old Luciano Colombo of Italy died of traumatic injuries sustained in the one thousand foot fall.  Columbo was un-roped, traveling ahead of his two teammates at the time of the fall.

Weather at the time of the accident was clear with relatively calm winds.  Colombo was traversing a 45 degree slope of hard, windblown snowpack when he fell.

His body has been transported back to the high camp where it will be transported back to Talkeetna.

On Thursday May 12^th, a Swiss climber was found dead at eighteen thousand feet.  The cause of his death remains unknown, but it does not appear to be trauma-related.

Over one thousand people are currently registered to climb Denali this season.