California woman injured in 1,000-foot fall in Alaska
A New York woman died and a California woman sustained serious injuries after the pair fell while ice climbing in Alaska’s Denali National Park and Preserve, park officials said Sunday.
The two friends, who were roped together, fell an estimated 1,000 feet while climbing a steep route of ice and snow known as the Escalator on Mount Johnson, the National Park Service said in a statement. Two other climbers who witnessed the fall descended and kept the surviving woman warm throughout the night while they waited for rescue crews to arrive the following day.
A high altitude helicopter pilot and two mountaineering rangers rescued the injured woman Friday morning and took her to an Anchorage hospital for treatment. She was identified on hiking permits as a 30-yearold California resident, National Park Service spokesperson Paul Ollig said Sunday. Her name was not released.
Due to poor weather, the rescue crew could not recover the body of the other woman until Saturday morning, park officials said. She was identified as New York resident Robbi Mecus, 52.
Mecus was a forest ranger with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and a co-founder of Queer Ice Fest in the Adirondack Mountains, the Adirondack Explorer reported.
“We are grateful for the rescue efforts of Denali mountaineering rangers and the two good Samaritans on Mount Johnson who helped save a fellow climber’s life,” Denali National Park Superintendent Brooke Merrell said. “We extend our thoughts and condolences to the friends and family of Robbi Mecus.”