A Malaysian man was rescued Friday from a snow cave 19,600 feet up on Alaska’s Mount Denali in its eponymous national park. A second climber with the man died before he could be rescued.

Mount Denali is North America’s tallest peak.

The rescue operation started Tuesday when the National Park Service received word from a team of distressed Malaysian climbers who had made a push for the summit.
One of the climbers, a 48-year-old man, was rescued the same day after he managed to get down to a camp at 17,200 feet, park officials said.

The rescued man, whom the park service did not name, was taken to be treated for severe frostbite and hypothermia. The other two men, one 36 years old and the other 47, were left bivouacking in a snow cave at the “Football Field” 19,600 feet high, a flat stretch of glacier immediately below the summit, which is at 20,310 feet.

Clouds and wind prevented the Denali National Park rescuers from reaching the two stranded men on Wednesday and Thursday, though a duffel bag of supplies was airdropped to them Thursday night.

On Friday, park personnel reached the snow cave and rescued the surviving climber, who informed them that the other climber had died a couple of days prior.

The survivor, whose name and age were not specified by park officials, was evacuated and taken down the mountain to an air ambulance. Officials did not specify the nature of his injuries.

The body of the victim, whose identity has not been released pending notification of his loved ones, has yet to be recovered. Park officials said they plan to recover the corpse in the coming days.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.