The Two Weeks Denali's Most Beautiful Ridge Turned Killer | Disaster Strikes E 268

On May 24, 1998, a Canadian climber lost his footing on Denali's West Buttress and disappeared down the north face toward the Peters Glacier. Two National Park Service volunteer rangers were a hundred feet ahead of him. One of them radioed for permission to go down and look, got it, and started descending — and somewhere on that slope a decision was made that two separate federal investigations would spend the following year trying to explain. What happened next left one man clipped to a single ice screw in a storm, with no radio, waiting to find out whether anyone knew where he was. Thirteen days later, on the same stretch of ridge, it happened again.

00:00 Disaster Strikes Intro
00:41 Whiteout On The Ice
03:38 Denali Setup And Stakes
04:18 High Camp And Ranger Program
08:10 Gear Limits And Descent Plan
10:13 Burrito Brothers And The Thumb
13:41 Daniel Falls Off The Ridge
15:13 Radio Call And Rescue Choice
18:07 Unroped Descent Into Danger
24:22 Mike Disappears, Hurtado Waits
27:42 Rescue Team Rope By Rope
31:09 Bodies Packs And Missing Mike
34:34 Search Findings And Crampon Test
37:00 Rescue Fever And System Lessons
40:48 Aftermath; Another Fatal Fall
42:59 Scholarship And Farewell

REFERENCES

1. American Alpine Club, Accidents in North American Mountaineering, 1999 — "Fall on Ice/Snow, Unable to Self-Arrest, Weather: Alaska, Mount McKinley, West Buttress."
2. NIOSH / Alaska FACE Investigation 98AK012, "Volunteer Ranger Dies from Fall on Denali," June 1, 1999.
3. NIOSH / Alaska FACE Investigation 98AK016, "Assistant Mountaineering Guide Falls on Denali," June 22, 1999.
4. American Alpine Club, Accidents in North American Mountaineering, 1999 — "Fall on Snow, Unable to Self-Arrest, Descending Unroped, Weather: Alaska, Mount McKinley, West Buttress."
5. Porco, Peter. "Ridge Turns Killer." Anchorage Daily News, June 9, 1998.
6. Anchorage Daily News, contemporaneous search coverage, May–June 1998, archived at akfatal.net.
7. "Denali Claims Another Climber." Mountain Zone.
8.  "Climber's Body Found — Man Loved Adventure, Family, Friends." Seattle Times, June 15, 1998.
9. "From a charmed life to learning how to cope with losing a son." Post Independent, April 18, 2011.
10. Find a Grave memorial #28083415, Michael Adrian "Mike" Vanderbeek, Talkeetna Cemetery, Alaska.

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