Today’s Frozen Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
In July 1967, two separate groups of young men set out to climb Denali (Mount McKinley). Those groups ended up merging into what’s now commonly called the Wilcox Expedition, named after group leader Joe Wilcox. His name is unfortunately associated with the deadliest climbing disaster in American history, as a lethal storm killed seven of the 12 men who set out to summit the mountain.
The Wilcox Expedition, Before Disaster Struck
Though Denali isn’t Mount Everest, it does present its own unique challenge: highly unpredictable weather. In the morning it can be calm; hours later, the mountain can be overtaken by a whiteout with high winds. A seven-day mega-storm descended on Denali during the Wilcox Expedition’s climb, making it impossible for a rescue mission to even attempt to save anyone.
The Wilcox Expedition was the conglomeration of two separate groups. Three men from Colorado – Paul Schlichter, Howard Snyder, and Jerry Lewis – had to join Wilcox’s team after their fourth man was unable to climb. Wilcox’s group included Ansel Schiff, Jerry Clark, Steve Taylor, Dennis Luchterhand, Henry James, Mark McLaughlin, Walt Taylor, and John Russell. The group was not nearly experienced as other climbers, such as Henry Worsley, who also perished under extreme conditions.
The three Colorado men all survived, as did Wilcox and Schiff. The other seven were claimed by the mountain, and there they remain – much like the bodies left on Mount Everest – frozen in time.
When rescuers finally reached the group’s campsite, they found no survivors. Instead, they discovered a tent in pieces wrapped around a body that was holding onto a tent pole. Due to the weather, the body had frozen and thawed, and it had started to decompose. Two more completely frozen bodies were also found.
The other four were never found. One climber’s bamboo stick was found next to a crevasse, but there was no way rescuers could rappel down into it. Babcock’s rescue group noted the climbers were not tied together, indicating their lack of experience.
Through the lens of modern technology and medicine, it may seem unbelievable that a body couldn’t be identified. Between DNA, dental records, and the myriad other ways that technology has enabled to us to identify remains even decades later, it’s hard to recall it wasn’t always so easy. In 1967, this was the reality those involved with the Denali disaster faced.
Between decomposition and bodies being completely frozen and covered in snow, rescuers had no way of telling who was who. To make matters worse, there was also no way to get the bodies down off the mountain. One rescuer said, “I should have taken a photo. I don’t know why I didn’t. It would have helped the family members know who it was and given them the closure.”
A group was later organized to retrieve the seven dead climbers to put their bodies to rest, but they were never located.
Here is the account of the rescue team finding the first body:
… After several more minutes of trudging up through the wind-crusted snow, the Wilcox team’s 17,900-foot-high Camp VII came into view. There was no movement, no welcoming calls, and no survivors. Just silence.
Mark McLaughlin’s homemade tent stood oddly taut in the light breeze. Next to it was, as Bill Babcock described in his journal, “a ghastly sight, a man sitting upright alongside a Logan tent. Face and hands are blue, green, white, frozen yet decomposing.” \
Ireton said the frozen man wore orange and his face was covered with snow. “He was blown over, but during the storm he was holding the pole,” he said. “The tent had probably ripped apart and the sleeping bag had blown away and he was there holding the pole and he obviously froze to death.”
Culled from: Ranker.Com and Denali’s Howl: The Deadliest Climbing Disaster on America’s Wildest Peak
Wretched Review: Denali’s Howl
Denali’s Howl: The Deadliest Climbing Disaster on America’s Wildest Peak
by Andy Hall
I’ve read a lot of books about doomed mountaineering expeditions and I have to say this isn’t one of the better ones. It’s not really that the book is poorly written, it’s just that there really isn’t a lot of detail that can be filled in surrounding this tragedy. Basically, 7 men climbed Mt. Denali (McKinley) in 1967, got caught in a terrible storm, and died. Considering they were out of radio contact with the men during the storm and the three bodies that were briefly found (before being covered up in further storms and lost again) didn’t have any documentation with them, there really isn’t much detail that can be filled in. And I can’t blame the author for that. Maybe some stories are better left as single chapters instead of full books.
3/5