Mountaineering rangers rescued a climber on Saturday who had fallen from a 16,000-foot ridge on Denali late Friday night.
According to a Denali National Park and Preserve release, 24-year-old Tatsuto Hatanaka of Japan fell more than 1,000 feet from the mountain’s West Buttress to the Peters Glacier. Hatanaka’s climbing partner witnessed the fall but could not see or get to the place where he came to rest.
The Park Service sent its high altitude helicopter to look for Hatanaka, and the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center dispatched a C-130 plane. Hatanaka was spotted, but clouds prevented the helicopter from getting to him.
Park mountaineering rangers worked the rescue on the ground, and a ranger evacuated Hatanaka from around 15,000 feet early on Saturday.
Hatanaka suffered only minor injuries.
