3 climbers – Three members of a Latvian mountaineering expedition died after a fall near Denali Pass in Denali National Park, while one climber was rescued after a long-line extraction and was airlifted toward medical care.
A rescue helicopter didn’t make it to the mountain, and by late Thursday the effort had shifted from finding survivors to recovering those who didn’t return.
Search-and-rescue teams in Alaska rescued one climber from a 17,200-foot basin on Mount McKinley/Denali around 4 p.m. Thursday, May 28, after three members of a Latvian expedition died in a fall, according to the National Park Service.
The surviving climber was extracted using a long-line operation because terrain and conditions prevented a helicopter landing. The climber was then transported to Kahiltna Base Camp before being transferred to a LifeMed air ambulance for transport to a hospital. The National Park Service said it had no additional information on the survivor’s condition.
At the same time, operations for the three remaining climbers moved from a search-and-rescue mission to a recovery effort, the agency said.
The mountain’s name has been a flashpoint in U.S. politics, even as the climbing tragedy unfolded on one of the world’s most unforgiving terrain. Denali—known to Alaska Native communities as Denali. meaning “the High One”—was officially renamed Denali by former President Barack Obama in 2015. Later, the Trump administration reinstated Mount McKinley as the mountain’s official federal name. The peak was originally named for former President William McKinley in 1917.
The Latvian Mountaineering Association identified the three climbers who died as Inese Puceka, Vija Olte, and Renars Kunigs-Salaks. Reuters reported that the fourth climber, Martin Bilzens, survived and was in critical condition. The organization said the loss was “an indescribably painful and irreversible loss for the entire Latvian climbing community.”.
The fall occurred on Wednesday. May 27. near Denali Pass. about 2. 100 feet below the 20. 310-foot summit of North America’s tallest mountain. Reuters reported that the expedition included seven people, and that the three remaining climbers were not injured in the fall. They initially returned to camp after assisting their teammates. and CNN later reported they were evacuated from the mountain Friday after experiencing declining physical conditions.
The sequence of events—an extraction without a helicopter. a critical condition survivor. and a rapid shift to recovery—unfolded in a place where small changes in weather and terrain can decide whether a rescue is possible at all. With one climber brought down from a high basin and three others now treated as a recovery case. the timeline shows how quickly the balance can tip on Denali.
The deaths also land amid a long record of deadly accidents on the mountain. CNN reported that more than 130 people have died on the mountain in the history of the park.
USA TODAY previously reported that a 41-year-old climber from Seattle died in June 2025 after a 3,000-foot fall from the West Buttress route. Days later, Washington state skier Nicholas Vizzini, 29, was killed when an avalanche carried him more than 1,500 feet down the same route.
Denali National Park Mount McKinley Alaska climbers Latvian mountaineering expedition rescue long-line extraction LifeMed air ambulance Kahiltna Base Camp Denali Pass