Idaho man killed by falling ice in Alaska’s Denali National Park

An Idaho man died last week while hiking in Denali National Park in Alaska when a block of glacier ice dislodged and fell on him, according to park officials.

The man, identified only as a 32-year-old from Rigby, was climbing with his partner, a 31-year-old Utah man, off the West Fork of the Ruth Glacier Thursday morning when the ice fell, the National Park Service said.

The survivor was knocked unconscious and awoke to find the 32-year-old man dead. He alerted officials over satellite and then managed to climb out of the debris zone to wait for his rescuers.

In this Aug. 26, 2016, file photo sightseeing buses and tourists are seen at a pullout popular for taking in views of North America's tallest peak, Denali, in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. A climber was killed and another was significantly injured when they were hit by a falling block of glacier ice in Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve, an official said Friday, May 14, 2021. The two were hit by the hanging serac after it dislodged from a peak off the West Fork of the Ruth Glacier. (Becky Bohrer/)

Around 7 a.m., Denali National Park’s high altitude helicopter pilot and two mountaineering rangers got to the survivor and relocated him to a safer location, where he was treated and then transported by air ambulance for further medical care.

Bad weather prevented officials from getting to the other man’s remains until Friday afternoon.

Park spokesperson Maureen Gualtieri told the Anchorage Daily News that the men appeared to be taking an uncommon climbing route, but that officials were unclear where they began their ascent.

Denali National Park, located about 250 miles north of Anchorage, includes the highest peak in North America.