A Malaysian man was saved Friday from a snow cave 19,600 feet up Alaska’s Denali, the highest mountain in North America. A fellow climber died before he could be rescued.
The rescue operation started Tuesday, when the National Park Service received word from a team of distressed Malaysian climbers who had made a push for the summit.
One of the climbers, a 48-year-old man, was rescued the same day after he managed to get down to a camp at 17,200 feet, park officials said.
The rescued man, whom the park service did not name, was taken to be treated for frostbite and hypothermia.
The other two men, one 36 years old and the other 47, were left camped out in a snow cave at what climbers call the Football Field 19,600 feet high, a flat stretch of glacier just below the summit at 20,310 feet.
Clouds and wind prevented the Denali National Park rescuers from reaching the two stranded men on Wednesday and Thursday, though a duffel bag of supplies was airdropped to them Thursday night.
On Friday, park personnel reached the snow cave and rescued the surviving climber, who informed them that the other climber had died a couple of days prior.
The survivor, whose name and age were not specified by park officials, was evacuated and taken down the mountain to an air ambulance. Officials didn’t specify the nature of his injuries.
The body of the victim, whose identity has not been released pending notification of his loved ones, has yet to be recovered. Park officials said they plan to retrieve the corpse in the coming days.
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