Denali Lama in action.
McKinley sees first rescue
INJURED: Two Spanish men fall while descending from Denali Pass.
By Anne Marie Tavella
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: May 17, 2002)
Two Spanish mountain climbers were seriously hurt after falling on their way down from Denali Pass on Mount McKinley late Wednesday night.
Francisco Rodriguez Martin, 35, suffered broken ribs and severe frostbite and Miguel Angel Romero Ruiz, 33, suffered a fractured ankle, a head injury and possibly a broken neck. Both men were being treated at Providence Alaska Medical Center on Thursday.
The climbers, members of the five-person Gamba De Palamos expedition, were traveling unroped from the 18,200-foot level to the 17,200-foot high camp on the West Buttress route when they fell.
According to the National Park Service, another member of their team had descended the pass a few hours before Martin and Ruiz earlier in the evening. As that climber neared the high camp he fell into a small crevasse but was able to free himself and walk to the nearby ranger station.
After checking in, he scouted the area for his teammates and spotted them in the snow at the bottom of the pass, said Maureen McLaughlin, a spokesperson with Denali National Park.
The sky was reported clear at the time with 25 mph winds and the temperature at about minus 20 degrees.
Apparently no one saw the fall. The Park Service is still trying to piece together what happened, McLaughlin said. It's not known what triggered the fall or how far the men fell, she said.
A park ranger and volunteers at the 17,200-foot high camp reached the men at about 10 p.m. and gave them medical attention until the men could be flown by high-altitude rescue helicopter to the 7,200-foot base camp Thursday morning. The climbers were put on a medical helicopter at about 11:30 a.m. and flown to Anchorage.
It was the first rescue of this year's McKinley climbing season, which runs from late April to mid-July. According to the Talkeetna Ranger Station, 322 climbers have been issued permits to climb McKinley as of Thursday. Another 32 have climbed and returned, of which three reached the 20,320-foot summit.
To date, 1,163 climbers have registered to make the trek this season. Last year a record 1,305 climbers attempted the climb. That season marked the third year there were no deaths on the mountain.