(DailyVantage.com) – A two-person team attempted to climb Mount Johnson, an approximately 8,400-foot-tall mountain located in Denali National Park, resulting in a climber’s tragic death. Alaskan authorities released a statement about the incident, confirming that one of the climbers died from an approximately 1000-foot fall while the other sustained severe injuries. While the National Park Service hasn’t addressed if the mountain’s conditions contributed to the tragic fall, it has identified the climber who died during the incident.
The climber who died from the fall has been identified as Robbi Mecus, a 52-year-old woman from New York. Mecus’s partner hasn’t been identified by authorities, with the National Park Service only confirming that Mecus had a 30-year-old female climbing partner. Mecus’s climbing partner sustained severe injuries following the 1000-foot-fall, but she’s currently receiving medical treatment in an Alaskan medical facility. The two women fell while climbing up Mount Johnson’s peak, where they attempted to use a treacherous local path known as the “Escalator.” Officials from the National Park Service credited a different climbing party for preventing Mecus’s climbing partner’s death.
According to the National Park Service, a different climbing party on Mount Johnson’s peak saw the two-person climbing team fall from the path to the peak. The climbing party immediately contacted park rangers to report the fall, prompting an immediate rescue effort for Mecus and her younger climbing companion. After a brief search of the area where Mecus and her partner landed, rangers confirmed that Mecus had died and found her injured partner in critical condition. While awaiting a medical flight, rangers remained with Mecus’s partner overnight, providing her warmth and medical care to prevent her from dying.
Denali National Park staff transported Mecus’s partner to a medical facility in Anchorage, where she’s currently receiving medical treatment. Authorities haven’t confirmed the woman’s status, but some expect her to survive, given the immense efforts undertaken by Denali National Park rangers to save her life. When explaining the incident, the National Park Service offered condolences to Mecus’s family, and provided a brief biography for the deceased mountain climber.
Mecus served as a forest ranger for New York for more than 25 years before her death and had a passion for nature and national parks. Although the weather conditions following Mecus’s lethal fall prevented authorities from recovering her body, conditions have since cleared and allowed rescuers to recover it. New York officials associated with Mecus have released a statement mourning the ranger’s death, and a funeral is likely planned for the coming weeks.
