Friday afternoon update:
Rescuers flew two more injured climbers from Mount McKinley this afternoon, according to the National Park Service.
The pair was among the ill-fated, four-person expedition that left one climber dead and another with a broken leg after a fall near the mountain's summit late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
The climber with a broken leg was rescued Thursday night. The body of the climber who died was also flown from the mountain.
Today the remaining climbers -- including a guide -- were picked up at 17,200 feet. Both men suffered frostbite on their hands and feet following a night spent high on the mountain in the icy cold and blowing wind.
The National Park Service still refused to name any of the members of the climbing party, pending contact with the climbers' families.
Original story:
A climber with a broken leg was plucked from a perch high atop Mount McKinley on Thursday night after spending most of the day 800 feet beneath the 20,320-foot summit, but rescuers found a climber from the same team dead at 18,000 feet.
The National Park Service did not immediately release the climbers names or hometowns.
They were part of a roped-together team of three climbers and a guide that fell from McKinley's summit ridge late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
Two members of the party, including the guide, safely reached the mountain's 17,200-foot high camp and remained there late Thursday night with frostbite, according to a report from the park service.
Grounded by wind gusts reaching 70 mph earlier in the day, Denali National Park's high-altitude A-Star B3 helicopter was able to fly to the injured climbers after the wind subsided around 5 p.m.
Pilot Andy Hermansky first went to the climber with the broken leg, who was at 19,500 feet with little more than a sleeping bag, according to park service reports.
As the helicopter hovered, its crew lowered a rescue basket secured to one end of a 125-foot rope. The injured climber got in, was flown to the Kahiltna base camp and transferred to a LifeMed air ambulance for the trip to an Anchorage hospital.
Then, the helicopter flew to 18,000, the site of the other climber. Again, Hermansky hovered while mountaineering ranger Kevin Wright was lowered to a spot right next to the climber. Wright buckled the climber into a canvas sling and the helicopter again headed to Kahiltna base camp. The climber had no obvious signs of life, the park service said.
It was the first fatality of the climbing season on Mount McKinley and the second in the Alaska Range. Late last month, a Texas man died in his tent when falling ice hit him on Ruth Gorge.
The search, rescue and recovery consumed most of Thursday and involved the park service, the 176th Wing of the Alaska Air National Guard, which launched a C-130 early in the day to look for the missing and injured climbers.
The incident began with a fall from the summit ridge. Park spokeswoman Maureen McLaughlin said it isn't known if the party reached the summit or not.
The guide helped the climber with the broken leg to a flat expanse at 19,500 feet called the Football Field. In temperatures as low as minus 30, the guide got the client into a light sleeping bag, frostbiting hands and feet in the process, the park service said.
Once that climber was secured, the guide began a descent to the 17,200-foot high camp to summon help, hoping to find the two other members of the party.
After high winds prevented a rescue attempt earlier in the day, the 11th Rescue Coordination Center requested help from the Alaska National Guard's 211th and 212th Rescue Squadrons, which dropped supplies high on the mountain.
During a reconnaissance flight during the afternoon, the crew spotted a climber at 18,300 feet, just above Denali Pass near a spot known as Zebra Rocks. By the time the park service crew was able to reach him hours later, he was dead.
It was unclear Thursday night why members of the four-man party separated after the fall.
Reporter Beth Bragg can be reached at bbragg@adn.com or 257-4335. Reporter Mike Campbell can be reached at mcampbell@adn.com or 257-4329.
By BETH BRAGG and MIKE CAMPBELL
sports@adn.com