June 22-25?, 1996, Mount Hunter (14,573 feet), Denali National Park, Alaska
2 climbers caught and killed
Tragedy again struck climbers on Mount Hunter. In late June two climbers
were struck my falling snow/ice and killed while attempting a new route on
the north side of Mount Hunter's West ridge. The pair were attempting a
3500-vertical-foot snow-and-rock buttress to the east of the NorthWest Basin
Variation to the West ridge route. The pair were last seen when they set out
from the Kahiltna Glacier. The men were reported overdue on the 27th, but
poor weather limited the search.
Finally on July 1, the two bodies and their packs were spotted by a NPS
search helicopter. The bodies were at about 8200 feet in a steep snow
couloir (only about 800 feet above the bergshrund). One body was still
anchored to the wall. At that time the rangers were not able to recover the
bodies because of dangerous conditions. Avalanches were frequently strafing
the couloir. However, a short time later one victim and the packs fell or
were swept down to a more accessible spot. Then a NPS ranger was lowered
from a helicopter to retrieve one of the bodies. The other body could not be
recovered.
This accident was unwitnessed, but rangers speculate that either a wet snow
avalanche or ice from serac fall killed the men. It is not know whether the
men were ascending or descending the gully. A storm had moved over the area
on June 24, and 2 feet fell during the next several days. The accident might
have occurred before or during the storm. At times nature can be very cruel,
and this was especially true for the family of one of the victims. In that
family the white death had already killed two (the father and an uncle, on
different expeditions), and then in late June 1996, the snowy torrents stole
their son. These were the 29th and 30th avalanche fatalities of the 1995-96
season.