Mountaineer dies in ski descent of Mt. McKinley
It’s shaping up to be a bad year on Mount McKinley.
A 36-year-old Finnish mountaineer died from injuries incurred in a fall while descending North America’s highest peak on Wednesday afternoon, marking the second fatality of the year on the 20,320-foot peak.
According to a press release from the National Park Service, Ilkka Uusitalo of Oulu, Finland was skiing down the 40- to 45-degree slope known as the ‘Orient Express’ with two teammates when he fell from an elevation of 17,800 feet and was unable to self-arrest. Uusitalo tumbled through snow, ice, and rocks, coming to a stop in a crevasse at 15,850 feet.
While one of his teammates continued down to the NPS ranger camp at 14,200 feet for rescue assistance, Uusitalo’s other teammate rappelled into the crevasse with the help of a nearby team. They determined that Uusitalo was likely deceased.
An NPS response team arrived on scene approximately one hour later and confirmed that Uusitalo was deceased. Uusitalo’s body was recovered and flown to Talkeetna.
Since 1972, 16 fatalities have occurred during descents of the Orient Express.
