ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Denali National Park officials say a Kodiak climber died on Mount McKinley Friday morning of an apparent cardiac arrest. Eight people have now died during this year’s climbing season in the Alaska Range.
According to park spokesperson Maureen McLaughlin, 52-year-old Brian Young had returned from a 20-hour summit day to sleep in a tent at the mountain’s 17,200-foot high camp when he suddenly stopped breathing.
Fellow tent occupants notified the mountaineering patrol stationed at the camp, who initiated CPR on Young. He did not regain a pulse, however, and was declared dead at 11 a.m.
Seven climbers died on McKinley and nearby peaks in May, but McLaughlin recently said park officials had never closed the mountain to climbing and weren’t considering doing so.
Young’s body will be recovered from the high camp when weather permits.
