New Jersey man dies trying to summit Alaska's Denali mountain, third climber to die on peak since last month
A climber has died after collapsing while attempting to summit Alaska's Denali mountain, the National Park Service said Saturday.
The climber, 48-year-old Fernando Birman of Stockton, New Jersey, collapsed Friday evening at an elevation of 19,700 feet while on an attempt to reach the top of the 20,310-foot peak, the park service said.
The park service statement said Birman's guides initiated CPR but he never regained his pulse.
Birman was part of a 12-member guided tour that began their ascent on May 22, said Sharon Stiteler, a spokesperson for Denali National Park, North America's tallest peak.
After his death, Birman's body was moved to a plateau and taken down from the mountain by helicopter before being sent to the Alaska medical examiner's office late Friday night.
The park statement said the cause of death was unknown but was consistent with sudden cardiac arrest.
Birman is at least the third climber to have died in the national park this year.
Last month, a climber from Japan died after falling through a weak ice bridge at approximately 8,000 feet on the southeast fork of the Kahiltna Glacier.
Also in May, the park recovered the body of Austrian solo climber Matthias Rimml. The 35-year-old professional mountain guide began his climb April 27 from the Kahiltna Glacier base camp at 7,200 feet, officials said. His last known call to his friend was on April 30, when he "reported being tired, but he was not in distress," officials said. It was unclear whether he intended to climb higher or return to his camp at 14,000 feet.
There have been 129 climbing deaths at the park since 1932, Stiteler said.
