Nepali climber who perished on Mt Denali is Sanjay Pandit

KATHMANDU: A Nepali climber who died on Mt Denali on Friday has been identified as an ultra runner from Nepal's mid-western district.

The National Park Service in Alaska announced that the deceased Nepali climber has been identified as Sanjay Pandit, an ultra runner from Pyuthan district. Pandit died while descending the Denali Pass after the team successfully scaled the peak.

Spokeswoman Maureen Gualtieri wrote in a release that an official with the Walter Harper Talkeetna Ranger Station identified the mountaineer who died Friday, June 16, on Denali as Sanjay Pandit, 28, Nepal.

Pandit died at 17,500 feet on Denali’s West Buttress route, it added. The climber’s remains will be recovered from the 17,200-foot high camp when the cloudy and windy weather conditions improve.

Pandit along with Tashi Sherpa and Tashi Lakpa Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks reached North America to attempt to climb the continent's highest peak this season.

(UPDATED)

Nepali climber dies on Mt Denali

KATHMANDU: A Nepali climber died while descending Mt Denali (6,190 m), North America’s highest mountain on Friday, according to reports.

Officials at the National Park Service in Alaska conveyed a message to the Expedition Organisers in Nepal and US that a Nepali climber died due to unknown illness when three climbers were descending from Denali Pass on Friday, according to Mingma Sherpa, Managing Director at Seven Summit Treks.

“We are trying to contact with Nepali members of ‘Everest to Denali Expedition – 2017’ as well as authorities in the US to know details about the incident,” he said.

According to reports, the climber was descending the West Buttress route of Denali when rangers received a request for help about 1 am. Then, two park service mountaineering volunteers reached the party and found the stricken climber unresponsive, it added.  The climber’s body would be recovered from a camp at 5,242 m once weather allows.

The name, gender and nationality of the climber were not immediately released pending notification of the climber’s family, the Associated Press reported.