A fall has claimed the life of a climber on North America’s tallest peak this week, the first fatality of the 2025 climbing season on Mount McKinley.
Alex Chiu, a 41-year-old ski mountaineer from Seattle, died on June 2 after falling approximately 3,000 feet from an area known as Squirrel Point, along the West Buttress route. According to the National Park Service, Chiu was climbing unroped with two partners when he fell.
After witnessing the fall, the climbing party lowered over the edge as far as possible but was unable to see or hear Chiu, the Park Service reported. They then descended the West Buttress route for additional help.
Due to high winds and snow, ground and air search was unable to access the accident site until the early morning hours of June 4. Two mountaineering rangers out of Talkeetna conducted a helicopter search to locate and recover the body.
Chiu was originally from New York but lived in Seattle and Brooklyn, N.Y., and was involved in the climbing community. He volunteered as an instructor with the Boeing Employees Alpine Society, teaching mountaineering, ice, and rock climbing. At the time of his death, was an aviation engineer at the Federal Aviation Administration, and prior to that, he worked as a software engineer at Boeing.
Chiu’s death was in the same general location as a 2010 fatality of a French climber, who was also unroped. His body was never recovered. The West Buttress route is McKinley’s most popular climbing path, but despite its accessibility, it has witnessed multiple fatal accidents since 1980, often involving unroped climbers.
The McKinley climbing season is entering its busiest phase. The National Park Service reports that 936 climbers registered for the 2025 season, which runs from early May through early July.
As of late May, 230 climbers were already on the mountain and 17 had completed successful climbs. Currently, approximately 500 climbers are reported to be on McKinley.
By this time last year, two climbers had died on McKinley. Over 130 climbers have died on McKinley since records began.
Nature > Engineer
In other news, the Sun is the leading cause of global warming.
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Condolences to his family and the climbers that were with him. I will not criticize his choice’s because who are we to judge. RIP
Mt. McKinley is a dangerous mountain. Many bodies are entombed on Big Mac. Some are climbers. Some are from crashed airplanes. RIP.