A 29-year-old man was killed Tuesday evening after being caught in an avalanche on Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America.
Nicholas Vizzini, from Washington State, and his climbing partner, a snowboarder, were descending the West Buttress Route when they triggered the avalanche, the National Park Service (NPS) reported.
The avalanche started near 16,600 feet and ran down to about 15,000 feet (4,572 meters), according to Denali National Park and Preserve.
Two mountaineering rangers, who were on an acclimatization climb, spotted Vizzini’s partner on the surface of the avalanche debris and responded quickly. After assessing the partner, they began a beacon search and found a signal.
Vizzini was located mostly buried under the debris. Park rangers immediately started life-saving measures, including 40 minutes of CPR, but stopped after they found no pulse and due to the severity of his injuries.
His body was flown to Talkeetna and then taken to the state medical examiner’s office. His partner sustained minor injuries and was scheduled to leave the mountain on Wednesday.
This is the second death on Mount McKinley this climbing season, which runs from early May to early July. In May, 41-year-old Alex Chiu died after a 3,000-foot fall.
The National Park Service said that about 13 avalanche-related deaths and over 130 total deaths have occurred on the mountain in the park’s history. Currently, around 500 climbers are on the mountain.