Date: July 7, 2008
For Immediate Release
Contact: Maureen McLaughlin, (907) 733-9103
Fatality on Mt. McKinley
A climber collapsed and died on the summit of Mt. McKinley
on the evening of July 4, 2008. James Nasti, age 51, of Naperville, Illinois
was a client on an Alpine Ascents International expedition that began their
climb on June 20. According to the two expedition guides, Nasti exhibited no
signs of distress or illness throughout the trip, and was climbing strongly
immediately prior to the collapse. The guides administered cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR) for up to 45 minutes, but Nasti did not regain a pulse.
Denali National Park mountaineering rangers at the
14,200-foot camp were immediately notified by the guides via radio. The team
was instructed by the NPS rangers to descend carefully with the remaining
four clients to the 17,200-foot camp, as there was no safe means of
recovering the deceased at that time. Conditions were initially calm and
clear on the summit, though weather began to deteriorate as the incident
progressed.
The 20,320-foot summit of Mt. McKinley features an exposed
flat area roughly the size of a single car garage. Just below the summit,
climbers must negotiate a 500-foot-long knife-edge ridge. A recovery along
this ridge would require a highly skilled technical rescue team and a rope
rigging system. Considering the high risk involved in such a ground
lowering, as well as the excessive risk of a helicopter recovery at this
extreme elevation, the National Park Service has determined that the safest
alternative is to leave the remains of the deceased climber on the mountain
at this time.
This incident represents the first time a mountaineer has
died on Mt.
McKinley’s summit. In 1988, a climber died at an elevation of 19,600-feet on
a descent from the summit; the body was not recovered.
— NPS —
Maureen McLaughlin
Mountaineering Administration and Public Information
Talkeetna Ranger Station
Denali National Park & Preserve
PO Box 588
Talkeetna, Alaska 99676
(907) 733-9103 (phone)
(907) 733-1465 (fax)