It’s the height of the climbing season on Alaska’s Mt. McKinley, with 433 climbers on the mountain and 395 climbers already finished. The National Park Service has its hands full with avalanche rescues and frostbite patients, while an American climber announces the first ever solo of the legendary Slovak Direct route.
Another death on the West Buttress route
Just a few days after ski mountaineer Alex Chiu fell to his death on the West Buttress route, there has been another death. On June 10, a soft slab avalanche caught American Nicholas Vizzini, 29, and his partner below the Rescue Gully above Camp 14 on the same route.
“Two mountaineering rangers on an acclimatization climb spotted the partner on the surface of the avalanche debris and were able to respond within minutes,” the National Park Service (NPS) said in a statement the next day. “During the search, Vizzini was visually located and found mostly buried in the debris. The rangers immediately began digging to establish an airway. CPR was initiated but discontinued after forty minutes due to traumatic injuries and no pulse.”
Four days later, another avalanche swept through Rescue Gully, catching a skier who was lucky to escape without injury.
Rescue Gully. Photo: National Park Service
First solo of the Slovak Direct
Established by Slovak climbers Blazej Adam, Tono Krizo, and Frantisek Korl in 1984, the Slovak Direct is a difficult, technical route that rises over 2,700m up McKinley’s towering South Face. Graded VI, 5.9X, M6+, WI6, A2, it has had fewer than 20 total ascents.
American Balin Miller claims to have just notched the first recorded solo on the route.
“Fun times with high pressure on the South Face. A more casual ascent at about 56 hours, with 70% of that time spent sleeping,” Miller wrote of his climb on Instagram.
Miller is just 23, and his 56-hour solo push is remarkable, clocking in four hours faster than Mark Twight, Steve House, and Scott Backes’ groundbreaking 60-hour push in 2000.
According to Climbing Magazine, Miller left Base Camp on June 10 and climbed the route over three days, with a lengthy 19-hour first bivy.
From Miller’s Slovak Direct climb. Photo: Balin Miller
