JUNEAU, Alaska – A 20-year-old climber died shortly after reaching the top of North America's highest peak, just days after another adventurer became the first known person to die at the summit, park officials said Tuesday.
Pungkas Tri Baruno, 20, of Jakarta, Indonesia, died Monday night while descending Mount McKinley, said Maureen McLaughlin, spokeswoman for Denali National Park and Preserve. His body remains on the mountain until weather permits helicopter access, perhaps as early as Wednesday.
Guides had tried to revive him, McLaughlin said. The cause of his death is unknown, but officials consider his demise and that Friday of James Nasti, 51, "entirely unrelated," she said.
"We don't have any information on his health, but it would certainly appear that he was a very active person," McLaughlin said.
It was Baruno's first attempt at the 20,320-foot mountain, according to his climber registration form. He was part of a guided expedition that began the climb June 22.
Baruno, one climbing partner and two guides reached the summit on Monday. One person did not finish the climb, McLaughlin said.
Baruno collapsed about a quarter-mile — or a 15-minute walk in a relatively flat region — from a camp at 17,200 feet, she said.
Nasti, 51, of Naperville, Ill., died Friday at the summit. Two mountaineers from Japan disappeared in late May while attempting a technically demanding route and are presumed dead.
Baruno's death brings the death toll on McKinley to 102 people since 1932.
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