2 climbers stranded with hypothermia await rescue off Denali, North America’s tallest mountain

Two climbers waited to be rescued near the peak of Denali, a colossal mountain that towers over miles of vast tundra in southern Alaska, authorities said Wednesday. Originally part of a three-person team that became stranded near the top of the mountain, the climbers issued a distress call more than 30 hours earlier, suggesting they were hypothermic and unable to descend on their own, according to the National Park Service.

Weather conditions made attempts to rescue climbers particularly treacherous this week, the park service said. Cloud cover posed dangers to aviation and ground search teams who were unable to reach the top of Denali between 1 a.m. local time on Tuesday, when park rangers received the initial satellite call from climbers. , and 9 a.m. Wednesday, when the National Park Service said rescuers were “waiting for clouds and wind to dissipate on the upper mountain.”

CBS News contacted the National Park Service for an update on the rescue mission Thursday morning but did not immediately receive a response.

Standing at 20,310 feet at its highest point, Denali is the centerpiece of a huge, rural national park and namesake and holds the record for being the highest peak in North America. The sprawling national park and the mountain itself are some of southern Alaska’s top tourist attractions, which together attract around 600,000 visitors every year. Many who travel to the national park never get to see Denali, because the clouds in the region can be so thick that they completely obscure the mountain, despite its size.

Denali park rangers communicated with the group of climbers for several hours after receiving the SOS via InReach, a portable device that uses satellite to send messages and has a GPS system that allows recipients to see their location. Although the group told rangers around 3:30 a.m. that they planned to climb about 700 feet below Denali to a plateau called “Football Field,” they did not continue communicating from then on and their location further up seemed to remain the same. . , according to the National Park Service.

A high-altitude helicopter and later a plane launched by the Alaska National Guard searched the mountain and located two climbers as they flew over it on Tuesday. A climbing guide found the third person near a lower elevation, about 18,600 feet above the ground, and along with a team of people helped that person descend another 1,400 feet or so to a camp where rescuers were waiting. . The National Park Service said the hiker suffered severe frostbite and hypothermia.

Their helicopter finally rescued the person at 10:15 pm on Tuesday and transferred the hiker to a LifeMed helicopter in Talkeetna, the nearest town. The helicopter also evacuated two other climbers who were being treated for frostbite in a medical tent on the mountain.

Although the National Park Service said “an experienced expedition guide” was able to catch up with the other two climbers, who reached the soccer field on high Denali late in the day Tuesday, that guide had to return to a higher point. low later in the evening as the clouds returned “for his own safety and the safety of his team”.

With its stark and unusually challenging landscape, Denali has become a popular climbing location for ambitious mountaineers. The National Park Service said Memorial Day weekend usually marks the start of the mountain’s busiest weeks of the year, and about 500 people were trying to climb on Wednesday.

About 15% of climbers reach the summit of Denali, according to the park service, and some died trying. Earlier this month, the Associated Press reported that a climber was found dead about 18,000 feet up the mountain while attempting a solo ascent.