The body of a mountaineer was recovered Wednesday after he fell 3,000 feet to his death from Alaska’s Mount McKinley, North America’s highest mountain, also known as Denali.
The National Park Service said in a statement that 41-year-old Alex Chiu fell from Squirrel Point on the mountain’s West Buttress route, about 12,000 feet above sea level. Chiu and his expedition were en-route to the Peters Glacier.
He was untethered at the time of the incident Monday and fell down an exposed and rocky cliff face about 3,000-foot — or around a half-mile. High winds and snow meant rescuers were unable to reach the body by helicopter until early Wednesday.
“After witnessing the fall, the reporting party lowered over the edge as far as possible but was unable to see or hear Chiu,” the NPS said.
Chiu’s body has been transferred to the local medical examiner.
A climber from Japan died while on the West Buttress route in May last year and a French climber, who was also un-roped, fell to his death near the same location in 2010.
McKinley, widely known by its Native American name Denali, is more than 20,000 feet tall and a popular destination for climbers. The NPS said around 500 climbers are currently on the mountain.
The mountain had been known as Denali for generations, meaning “the tall one” in the Athabascan language, but it was designated McKinley in 1917.
It was then officially recognized as Denali in 2015 under Barack Obama’s administration, but this year President Donald Trump ordered it to be changed back to McKinley. The name of the Denali National Park and Preserve remains unchanged, however.
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