A pair of climbers attempting to scale Mount Johnson in Alaska’s Denali National Park Thursday suffered a 1,000-foot fall. The descent killed one of the climbers and injured the other.

The two climbers were using a rope and attempting the 5,000-foot “Escalator” route up the southeastern face of the mountain, which is 8,400 feet high in total.

Another party of mountain climbers witnessed the fall and alerted authorities at around 10:45 p.m. local time, Denali National Park said in a release. The witnesses rushed to help the fallen climbers, confirming that one had died, and building a snow cave while helping treat the other climber’s injuries.

Early Friday, a park ranger arrived and helped airlift the injured climber out of the park via helicopter. 

The survivor was transferred to an air ambulance at Talkeetna State Airport.

The body of the deceased climber could not be recovered Friday due to increasingly bad weather and cloud cover. Rangers will return when conditions allow, park officials said.

Park officials did not name the fallen climbers, nor did they specify the nature of the traumatic injuries suffered by the survivor.

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