Latest news with #MountMcKinley
Fox News
4 days ago
- Fox News
Experienced climber dies after 3,000-foot plummet from North America's highest peak
A Seattle man died after falling 3,000 feet from a climbing route at Denali National Park in Alaska, the National Park Service said Wednesday. Alex Chiu, 41, was ascending the West Buttress route of Mount McKinley on Monday, June 2, one of the park's most frequently climbed routes, while not attached to a rope, the agency said in a statement. He was ski mountaineering, which involves ascending and descending the route with skis. He was joined by two others in his expedition to conquer North America's highest peak. Two others witnessed his fall onto the rocky face covered in jagged ice, and lowered themselves over the edge as far as they could, but they could not see or hear him after the fall, officials said. The mountaineers descended the route to ask for assistance at Camp 1, which is located around 7,800 feet up the mountain. Due to high winds and snow, ground and air search teams were unable to quickly reach the area where he had fallen on Monday. On Wednesday, clear weather allowed two rangers to depart Talkeetna, a village south of the mountain, in a helicopter search for Chiu. When his body was found, it was transferred to the state medical examiner, the agency said. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Alaska State Medical Examiner's Office for Chiu's official cause of death. Chiu was an aerospace engineer at the Federal Aviation Administration and, before that, a software engineer at Boeing, according to his LinkedIn profile. On his social media accounts, he described himself as a storyteller, traveler, scuba diver, rock climber, alpinist and marathon runner. He wrote on his Instagram account about how living in Seattle allowed him to take his ice-climbing tools to the mountains every weekend. He shared that following the daily grind of his 9-to-5, he would pack up his gear and head to the mountains. "I had become so good at what I did that I started teaching others how to do it, and that was even more fun to teach others how to experience the joy you have in these wild places," he wrote in an Instagram post. "When I am in the mountains, I realize I was at my best. I was smart, witty, passionate, and bold." The pandemic put the brakes on his alpine climbs, but he dreamed of heading back to the climb. "So tomorrow I am getting on an airplane to Alaska," he wrote in an Instagram post on May 19, "in an attempt to climb the third-highest peak in the world because I don't want to know what happens to a dream deferred." The busiest season on the mountain lasts from mid-May to mid-June; there were about 500 climbers on it Wednesday, the agency said. Chiu is one of several people who have died while climbing Mount McKinley or other areas of Denali National Park. In April 2024, 52-year-old Robbi Mecus, of Keene Valley, New York, fell to his death while climbing an estimated 1,000 feet off Mount Johnson in the national park. The NPS said that a similar accident happened in 2010, in a similar location. That incident involved an unroped French mountaineer, who fell to his death on the Peters Glacier. His body was never recovered.
CTV News
5 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Rangers in Alaska recover the body of a man who died from a fall on North America's tallest peak
In this May 9, 2013 file photo released by the Alaska Air National Guard, Chief Master Sgt. Paul Barendregt climbs up the prow of the West Buttress on Mount McKinley conducting winter rescue and glacier training in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. (AP Photo/Alaska Air National Guard) ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Mountaineering rangers in Alaska recovered the body of a Seattle man who died after falling 3,000 feet (about 900 meters) from a climbing route on Mount McKinley. Alex Chui's body was transferred to the state medical examiner Wednesday, the Denali National Park and Preserve said in a statement. Two other members of the 41-year-old's expedition on the West Buttress route to Peters Glacier reported Monday that Chui fell at a spot called Squirrel Point. They lowered over the edge as far as possible but were unable to see or hear Chui. He was not roped. Ground and air search crews were unable to reach the site until early Wednesday. An unroped French mountaineer fell to his death near the same location in 2010. His body was never recovered. The busiest time for climbing Mount McKinley is May and June. There are currently 500 climbers on the peak, North America's tallest. The Associated Press
Associated Press
5 days ago
- General
- Associated Press
Rangers in Alaska recover the body of a man who died from a fall on North America's tallest peak
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Mountaineering rangers in Alaska recovered the body of a Seattle man who died after falling 3,000 feet (about 900 meters) from a climbing route on Mount McKinley. Alex Chui's body was transferred to the state medical examiner Wednesday, the Denali National Park and Preserve said in a statement. Two other members of the 41-year-old's expedition on the West Buttress route to Peters Glacier reported Monday that Chui fell at a spot called Squirrel Point. They lowered over the edge as far as possible but were unable to see or hear Chui. He was not roped. Ground and air search crews were unable to reach the site until early Wednesday. An unroped French mountaineer fell to his death near the same location in 2010. His body was never recovered. The busiest time for climbing Mount McKinley is May and June. There are currently 500 climbers on the peak, North America's tallest.
CBS News
5 days ago
- Sport
- CBS News
Climber dies after falling 3,000 feet from Mount McKinley in Alaska's Denali National Park
The body of a climber who dreamed of summiting Alaska's Mount McKinley, also known as Denali, has been found two days after he fell approximately 3,000 feet, the National Parks Service said. Alex Chiu, 41, was ascending the West Buttress climbing route of Mount McKinley — the tallest mountain in North America and third highest in the world — with two others on Monday when he fell at a spot known as Squirrel Point, according to park officials. After his friends witnessed the fall, they tried to lower themselves as far over the edge as they possibly could, but they weren't able to hear or see Chiu, NPS said in a news release. They then went back down the mountain for help. High winds and snow prevented rescue teams from getting to the area where Chiu fell until Wednesday morning, NPS said. Chiu is one of multiple climbers who have died in falls since 1980 along this section of Mount McKinley's West Buttress route, according to NPS. There are currently 500 climbers on Mount McKinley, the park said. The beginning of June is right in the middle of the climbing season, which generally begins in early May and ends in early July, NPS said.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Vows to Maintain AP Ban Until It Adopts ‘Gulf of America'
President Donald Trump made his first reference on Monday to his White House war with the Associated Press—only to vow to maintain its indefinite ban of the news outlet. Trump called the wire service 'obsolete' and said he would keep it barred from press engagements until it calls the Gulf of Mexico the 'Gulf of America.' The White House banned the AP from the Oval Office and Air Force One press pools last week over the wire's decision not to call the Gulf of Mexico the 'Gulf of America' in line with Trump's executive order. The AP has called the move a First Amendment violation. An Axios report on Monday said Trump White House advisers' ire stemmed from phrases in the AP Stylebook, one adopted by most mainstream news outlets, including 'gender-affirming care'; capitalizing 'Black' but not 'white' when describing racial identities; and how it describes immigrants. When asked whether he agrees with his advisers that the outlet has suggested language in line with liberal perspectives, Trump said the AP has become 'ridiculous.' Trump also said the Associated Press 'refuses to go with what the law is and what is taking place.' 'I have the right to do it, just like we have the right to do Mount McKinley, and nobody's even challenging that,' he said. 'It's primarily the Associated Press, and I don't know what they're doing, but I just say that we're going to keep them out until such time as they agree that it's the Gulf of America.' AP spokesperson Lauren Easton told the Daily Beast in a statement: 'This is about the government telling the public and press what words to use and retaliating if they do not follow government orders. The White House has restricted AP's coverage of presidential events because of how we refer to a location. 'The Associated Press has provided critical and independent coverage of the White House for over 100 years.' The AP said it would switch its usage of Mount Denali to Mount McKinley, in line with the Trump administration's edict, as the peak was within a U.S. property. However, it would maintain its usage of the Gulf of Mexico due to its 400-year history and its usage by other countries. Trump also used the question to attack the outlet's credibility, saying it was 'very, very wrong on the election.' The AP called the election for Trump early Nov. 6. 'They're doing us no favors, and I guess I'm not doing them any favors,' he said. 'That's the way life works.'
