Four Presumed Dead in Mount McKinley Avalanche

An avalanche likely killed four Japanese hikers who were climbing Mount McKinley in Alaska, the National Park Service said on Sunday.

Rangers attempted a search-and-rescue mission after an avalanche was triggered on the western side of the tallest mountain in North America on Thursday.

In total, five climbers attempted to ascend Mount McKinley as a one-rope team. The rope appears to have broken in the avalanche.

The one known survivor, Hitoshi Ogi, survived the avalanche and, unable to find his fellow hikers, descended to base camp and reported the event. A ranger searched near the crevasse that Ogi went into, located around 100 feet below the surface of the glacier, but only found a broken rope end.

The ranger “began to dig further, but encountered heavily compacted ice and snow debris,” the Park Service said.

This season, six people have died trying to climb McKinley, which has a height of more than 20,000 feet.

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