The two were hit by the hanging serac after it dislodged from a peak off the West Fork of the Ruth Glacier.
The accident happened Thursday as the two were beginning to climb one of the peaks on the southern flank of Denali, the continent’s tallest mountain, said park spokesperson Maureen Gualtieri. The ice hit the two-person team about 5 a.m. as the men began to climb the west face of Reality Ridge. One climber, described by park officials as a 31-year-old man from Logan, Utah, was knocked unconscious. When he woke up, he found his climbing partner — a 32-year-old man from Rigby, Idaho — dead from the accident.The Utah survivor used a satellite communications device to call for assistance about 6 a.m.
Cloudy weather prevented the helicopter from returning to the area Thursday. Rangers will return to the scene when conditions allow to assess the possibility of recovering the climber’s remains, the statement said. It’s the second death this year in Denali. On May 3, Mason Stansfield, 28, of Ouray, Colorado, died after falling into a crevasse while skiing on a glacier in the national park.
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