The climbing community is mourning the loss of a local guide and mountaineering ranger who died on Denali, the Alaska peak also known as Mount McKinley. The ranger, identified as Robin Pendery, of Enumclaw, died on Thursday after falling into a crevasse on the mountain. His death has been felt across a tight community of climbers and guides who knew him.
According to the National Park Service, Pendery was working as a mountaineering ranger at the time of the fall. He was helping to run climbing operations at the 14,000 foot elevation, one of the key staging points for expeditions attempting the summit. Rangers stationed at that altitude play a central role in supporting and overseeing climbers during the season.
After the fall into the crevasse, a rescue attempt was launched on the mountain. Despite those efforts, Pendery did not survive. The National Park Service confirmed the death, which occurred in Alaska's Denali National Park, the vast protected area that surrounds the peak.
The loss is especially heavy because it comes just a week after three other climbers lost their lives on the same mountain. That sequence of deaths has cast a shadow over the current climbing season on what is North America's highest peak, where conditions can turn dangerous quickly even for the most experienced.
Denali draws mountaineers from around the world each year, and the rangers who work its high camps are among the most experienced on the mountain. They help manage climbing operations, assist expeditions and respond when emergencies unfold at extreme altitude, often in punishing conditions.
For now, those who climbed and worked alongside Pendery are remembering a guide and ranger devoted to the mountain. His death, following so closely on the deaths of three other climbers, has underlined once again the risks that come with operating on Denali, even for those whose job is to keep others safe.