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<\/a>\nThe Wilcox Expedition, Before Disaster Struck<\/em><\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The Wilcox Expedition was the conglomeration of two separate groups. Three men from Colorado – Paul Schlichter, Howard Snyder, and Jerry Lewis – had to join\u00a0Wilcox’s team after their fourth man was unable to climb. Wilcox’s group included\u00a0Ansel Schiff, Jerry Clark, Steve Taylor,\u00a0Dennis Luchterhand, Henry James, Mark McLaughlin, Walt Taylor, and John Russell. The group was not nearly experienced as other climbers, such as\u00a0Henry Worsley, who also perished under extreme conditions.<\/p>\n
The three Colorado men all survived, as did\u00a0Wilcox and\u00a0Schiff. The other seven were claimed by the mountain, and there they remain – much like the\u00a0bodies left on Mount Everest\u00a0– frozen in time.<\/p>\n
When rescuers finally reached the group’s campsite, they found\u00a0no survivors. Instead, they discovered a tent in pieces\u00a0wrapped 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.\u00a0Two more completely frozen bodies\u00a0were also found.<\/p>\n
The other four were\u00a0never found. One climber’s\u00a0bamboo stick\u00a0was found next to a crevasse, but there was no way rescuers could rappel down into it. Babcock’s rescue group noted\u00a0the\u00a0climbers were not tied together, indicating their lack of experience.<\/p>\n
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\u00a0it wasn’t always so easy. In 1967, this was the reality those involved with the Denali disaster faced.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0One 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.”<\/p>\n
A group\u00a0was later organized\u00a0to retrieve the seven dead climbers to put their bodies to rest, but they were never located.<\/p>\n
Here is the account of the rescue team\u00a0finding the first body:<\/p>\n
… 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.<\/p>\n
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.” \\<\/p>\n
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.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Culled from:\u00a0Ranker.Com<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Denali’s Howl: The Deadliest Climbing Disaster on America’s Wildest Peak<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wretched Review: Denali’s Howl<\/h3>\n
Denali’s Howl: The Deadliest Climbing Disaster on America’s Wildest Peak<\/a>
\nby Andy Hall<\/p>\n