2 Mountain Climbers Suffering from Hypothermia Awaiting Rescue from Denali Mountain in Alaska

The Denali National Park and Preserve said that one mountain climber with hypothermia was rescued and transported to the hospital in 'critical' condition

Rescue crews in Alaska are attempting to rescue two mountain climbers, who attempted to scale the Denali mountain before catching hypothermia.

The Denali National Park and Preserve shared in a press release on Wednesday, May 29 that its mountaineering rangers and Alaska Rescue Coordination Center rescued one climber with hypothermia in “critical” condition on Tuesday night and they were working to rescue two other hikers who remained stranded on the upper portion of Denali’s mountain.

Officials with the park said they received a distress call from three mountain climbers on the 20,310-foot summit of Denali — which is the tallest in North America — asking for help on Tuesday, May 28 at around 1 a.m. local time, per the release.

The climbers noted that they were “hypothermic and unable to descend the mountain.” Hypothermia is a condition that occurs when core body temperature drops below 95 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Mayo Clinic.

Related: 3 Teens Among Group of Hikers Rescued from N.H. Mountain Trail, Officials Say: 'Dangerous Decision'

Rangers kept “two-way communication” with the team until about 3:30 a.m. when they appeared to lose signal, according to the release. The climbers' final message was that they were attempting to descend to a place on the mountain called the “Football Field,” a flat expanse at 19,600-foot elevation.

The Denali National Park and Preserve noted that its “high-altitude” helicopter was unable to reach the mountain on Tuesday morning due to “variable cloud cover” so the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) was called in for assistance. They sent in a HC-130J Combat King II from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska at around 10 a.m. to try to locate the climbers.

The helicopter was able to locate the two of the climbers between 19,000 and 20,000 feet shortly before noon and the third near a climbing guide near Zebra Rocks at 18,600 feet, however, due to “several stagnant cloud layers,” the helicopter was unable to reach them safely.

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After three attempts to reach the distressed climbers by helicopter, one of the climbers finally reached the 17,200-foot high camp while suffering from “severe frostbite and hypothermia” just after 9 p.m. The climber was aided by a guided party before being transferred to the care of a NPS ground team who had “ascended” the mountain to help.

A helicopter was eventually able to reach the 17,200-foot camp and picked up the “ailing” climber, stopping to refuel before returning to the base of the mountain in Talkeetna, Alaska. The “critical patient” was then transferred to a LifeMed helicopter and taken to a hospital.

The Denali National Park and Preserve noted that rescuers were waiting for “clouds and windy conditions to dissipate” on the upper part of the mountain before sending “a ground team or aviation resources” to rescue the two remaining climbers, who were still at the “Football Field.”

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The Denali National Park and Preserve said that Memorial Day weekend is one of the busiest seasons for mountaineering on Denali, and that as of Wednesday morning, there were 506 climbers trying to make the ascent up the mountain.

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