EXPOSURE, WEATHER, INADEQUATE EQUIPMENT Alaska, Mount McKinley L ate on July 3, 1991, Polish clim ber K rzysztof W iech a (28) beg an clim bing alone to th e sum m it o f M ount M cK inley from th e 17,200 foot cam p on th e W est B uttress ro u te. As W iech a app ro ach ed th e sum m it from th e 19,500 foot area, th e w ea th er rapidly d e te ri o rate d w ith clouds, snow, high w inds, and visibility n ea r zero. W iecha b ecam e disori en ted , an d by early on July 4, d ec id e d to seek sh e lte r in a sm all snow cave th a t h e dug n ea r 20,000 feet. H e ca rrie d no bivouac o r survival gear. At 0700, W iech a was re p o rte d as ov erdue to N PS m o u n tain eerin g rangers. T h e w ea th er rem a in ed extrem ely p o o r on July 4 an d 5, w ith h eavysnowfall, high w inds, an d high avalanche h azard p ro h ib itin g any air an d gro u n d search attem pts. M eanw hile, W iech a w an d e re d aro u n d n e a r th e sum m it attem p tin g to find th e d esce n t route, taking sh e lte r in several d ifferen t loca tions. H e began to suffer severely from th e cold, altitude, d eh y d ratio n , an d exhaustion. By m idday on July 6, th e w ea th er began to clear, and an air search was beg u n . M iracu lously, W iecha was sp o tted craw ling from a crevasse ju st below th e su m m it at 19,800 feet. T h e N PS L am a h elico p ter was disp atch ed from T alkeetna, an d two m o u n ta in e er in g ran g e rs w ere flow n to th e “F o o tb all F ie ld ” at 19,500 feet. R an g ers c lim b e d to
W iecha, w ho was c o h e re n t b u t could barely m ove d u e to exhaustion and severely fro st b itte n feet. H e was low ered approxim ately 900 fee t to th e F o o tb all F ield, w h ere th e L am a h elico p ter once again landed, an d flew W iech a o ff th e m o u n tain early on July 7. B o th o f W ie c h a ’s sev erely fro s tb itte n fe e t w e re a m p u ta te d . (S o u rce: Jim P hillip s, M o u n tain eerin g R anger, D enali N ational Park)
Analysis R apid changes in th e w e a th e r are co m m o n on M o u n t M cK inley. It is im p o rta n t to m o n ito r w e a th e r p a tte rn s an d to b e w illing to m ake th e decision to a b o rt a su m m it attem p t. It seem s th a t M r. W iech a did keep track o f th e w e a th e r situation b u t was still cau g h t by a su d d e n change in th e w eather. M r. W iech a d e m o n stra te d an in cred ib le will to survive. T h e fro stb ite o f his fee t m ay have b e e n p re v e n te d by having som e basic survival e q u ip m e n t w ith h im d u rin g his su m m it attem p t. A stove, pot, fuel, som e type o f sh e lte r an d extra food sh o u ld b e car rie d d u rin g a su m m it a tte m p t. (S ource: R o n a ld Jo h n so n , M o u n ta in e e rin g R an g er, D enali N ational Park)