A climber who died high on Mount McKinley Thursday has now been identified by the National Park Service as 38-year-old Beat Niederer of St. Gallen, Switzerland. Neiderer was on a rope team of four climbers who fell descending the summit ridge.
Jeremiah O'Sullivan, a 40-year-old from Ballinhassig, Ireland, broke his leg in that fall. Mountain Trip guide Dave Staeheli from Alaska's Matanuska-Susitna Valley broke a rib in that fall as well, but was in good enough condition to get O'Sullivan tucked away in a bivy sack, an emergency shelter, near 19,500 feet.
While he was doing that Niederer and 45-year-old Lawrence Cutler from Croton-on-Hudson, New York headed back from below the mountain's 20,320-foot summit toward High Camp at 17,200 feet. Winds were blowing fiercely at the time, and temperatures were near 20 degrees below zero.
Whether Staeheli -- 56-years-old and the most experienced guide working on McKinley these days -- told them to go back to High Camp or whether they made that decision on their own is at this time unclear.
However, it happened, though, Niederer and Cutler became separated on the descent.
Cutler was later spotted by climbers in High Camp near the head of "The Autobahn," a chute so named for the speed with which a climber who slips there can fall toward Peters Glacier below. Other climbers in High Camp spotted Cutler and went to his aid. He was later evacuated from the mountain suffering from frostbite to his hands and feet.
Searchers who went looking for O'Sullivan eventually found Niederer's body. How he died remains unknown. O'Sullivan, who was safely evacuated, is under treatment at an Anchorage hospital for a broken leg as well as severe frostbite to his legs, hands and face.
O'Sullivan was hauled to safety by Andy Hermansky, who dropped a line to him from an Aerostar B3 helicopter. Hermansky is on contract with the Park Service to perform the dangerous task of high-altitude rescue in the specially outfitted helicopter during the short May-June climbing season on North America's tallest peak.
The rescue of O'Sullivan marked only the second time a helicopter has been able to perform a rescue above 19,000 feet on the mountain.
What caused the initial accident that broke O'Sullivan's leg, resulted in Neiderer's death, and led to series of tricky helicopter rescues -- O'Sullivan, Cutler and Staeheli were all eventually plucked off the mountain by Hermansky -- remains unknown.
The Park Service said another Mountain Trip client on the "April 24 Team" expedition under Staeheli's guidance was evacuated earlier. The agency reported Tony Diskin, 33, from Westmeath, Ireland, was escorted down to the 14,200-foot camp by an assistant guide earlier. He had frostbite and was also evacuated.
Contact Craig Medred at craig(at)alaskadispatch.com
[CORRECTION: This story originally reported that the Autobahn dropped to the 14,200-foot level. We regret the error.]