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.
“After witnessing the fall, the reporting party lowered over the edge as far as possible but was unable to see or hear Chiu,” the park service said.
McKinley, widely known by its Native American name Denali, is more than 20,000 feet tall and a popular destination for climbers.
The park service said around 500 climbers are currently on the mountain.
On Wednesday, a mountaineer’s body was found after he died after falling 3,000 feet from Mount McKinley, also known as Denali, the highest mountain in North America, in Alaska.
About 12,000 feet above sea level, on the West Buttress route of the mountain, 41-year-old Alex Chiu fell from Squirrel Point, according to a statement from the National Park Service. Chiu was on his way to the Peters Glacier with his expedition.
He was untethered when the incident occurred on Monday, and he fell approximately 3,000 feet, or a half-mile, down a rocky and exposed cliff face. The body was not accessible by helicopter until early Wednesday due to strong winds and snow.
According to the park service, “the reporting party lowered over the edge as far as possible after witnessing the fall but was unable to see or hear Chiu.”.
The local medical examiner now has Chiu’s body.
Last May, a French climber who was also unroped fell to his death near the same spot in 2010, and a Japanese climber died while on the West Buttress route.
Denali, the Native American name for McKinley, is a well-liked climbing destination that rises to a height of over 20,000 feet. Approximately 500 climbers are presently on the mountain, according to the park service.
For many generations, the mountain was referred to as Denali, which means “the tall one” in Athabascan, but in 1917, it was renamed McKinley.
President Donald Trump ordered it to be changed back to McKinley this year after it was formally recognized as Denali in 2015 during the Barack Obama administration. Denali National Park and Preserve, however, still goes by the same name.
