On June 2, ski mountaineer Alex Chiu, 41, of Seattle, Washington, fell to his death on Mt. McKinley.
Chiu was climbing the West Buttress route with two partners when he fell on an exposed 900m face near Squirrel Point. He was unroped at the time. His partners lowered themselves over the edge to look for him, but could not see or hear Chiu. They then descended to the lower camps to seek help.
High winds and snow slowed rescue operations, with helicopters grounded on June 3. On the morning of June 4, the weather cleared, and National Park rangers recovered Chiu’s body after an aerial search.
The NPS reports that 500 people are on the mountain, a significant uptick from the end of May, when 230 climbers were active.
