Climber who died in fall from North America’s tallest peak identified as man from Japan

Climber who died in fall from North America’s tallest peak identified as man from Japan

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The EcoFOCI program helps determine impacts on Alaska’s ecosystems from a changing climate. (NOAA)(Video from January 2023)

DENALI NATIONAL PARK & PRESERVE, Alaska – A climber who died in a fall from the highest mountain peak in North America has been identified by National Park Service (NPS) officials as a man from Japan. 

The NPS said mountaineering rangers inside Alaska‘s Denali National Park and Preserve recovered the body of T. Hagiwara, of Sapporo – the capital city of Japan’s Hokkaido prefecture, on Monday evening.

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Image showing the Denali Pass Traverse from High Camp at 17,200 feet elevation to Denali Pass, at 18,200 feet. The X indicates the approximate location where Mr. Hagiwara’s remains were recovered.

Image showing the Denali Pass Traverse from High Camp at 17,200 feet elevation to Denali Pass, at 18,200 feet. The X indicates the approximate location where Mr. Hagiwara’s remains were recovered.

(National Park Service)

NPS officials said it’s assumed that the victim fell from the steep traverse between Denali’s 17,200-foot High Camp and the 18,200-foot Denali Pass.

According to a news release, the victim’s concerned family alerted park rangers on Sunday that they had not heard from Hagiwara in several days.

Rangers used data from Hagiwara’s satellite communication device to determine his location was at about 17,000 feet.

That data, according to the NPS, showed that Hagiwara’s fatal fall had occurred days earlier, on May 16.

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The south peak (L) and north peak of Denali from Denali Viewpoint South in Denali National Park near Trapper Creek, Alaska, on September 20, 2022. (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

The south peak (L) and north peak of Denali from Denali Viewpoint South in Denali National Park near Trapper Creek, Alaska, on September 20, 2022. (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

A mountaineering patrol at the High Camp reached Hagiwara around midday on Monday and confirmed his death before securing his body until weather conditions cleared and the national park’s high-altitude helicopter could take off on a recovery mission.

While the helicopter was en route, NPS rangers were told of an injured climber at about 18,600 feet on the West Buttress after a 3-member rope team fell below the feature known as Zebra Rocks.

The helicopter was able to first rescue that climber and return them to the base camp before returning to the upper mountain and recovering Hagiwara’s remains.

The NPS said Hagiwara’s body was then turned over to the state medical examiner.