The “Escalator” route on Mt. Johnson, Denali National Park and Preserve.
A climber who died after falling 1,000 feet in Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve was identified on Saturday as Robbi Mecus, a noted climbing enthusiast and forest ranger.
Mecus, 52, from Keene Valley, New York, was an outspoken advocate for expanding the presence of fellow transgender people in alpine climbing. In 2022, she co-founded Queer Ice Fest in the Adirondack Mountains of her adopted hometown, and the event earlier this year was its third annual happening.
New York Department of Environmental Conservation interim Commissioner Sean Mahar said in a statement that Mecus made a mark in her long career with the state.
"Over her 25-year career with DEC, Ranger Mecus demonstrated an unparalleled passion for protecting the environment and New Yorkers," the commissioner said. "She exemplified the Forest Rangers’ high standard of professional excellence while successfully ... advancing diversity, inclusion, and LGBTQ belonging throughout the agency."
Her body was recovered Saturday morning after rescuers decided to halt their recovery efforts Friday amid challenging conditions on the park's Mount Johnson, where Mecus' climbing partner survived after falling with her, the National Park Service said in a statement.
The survivor, who wasn't identified, was described by the service as a 30-year-old woman from California. She sustained serious injuries and was rescued by rangers Friday morning before she was ultimately flown to an Anchorage hospital, the park service said.
The accident took place Thursday night as the pair was ascending Mount Johnson in a steep, technical climb on the mountain’s southeast face, park officials said previously.
The climbers were roped together on a 5,000-foot route called "the Escalator" when they fell 1,000 feet, the park service said.
A witness called first responders, fellow climbers built a snow cave to preserve the survivor's temperature and rescuers reached the location Friday morning, the service said.
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The pathway the two used is composed of ice, rock and snow, it said.
The perilous route is popular with seasoned climbers who report it can take a good 24 hours to get to the summit and back to base, with some preferring night climbing that may ensure frozen elements instead of wet or slushy ones, according to accounts published by the American Alpine Club.
Mecus was a seasoned climber who has been credited with rescuing others multiple times in upstate New York mountains.
Mecus was interviewed in 2019 as part of the New York City Trans Oral History Project, telling an interviewer she grew up in the city, later got married and had a child, but also "cross-dressed, closeted" before she decided to make her transition, which broke up her marriage.
She said she worked for the state for 17 years as a ranger, which is a sworn law-enforcement position she described as "hyper-macho," before making her transition in the 2010s. Mecus said she fully expected to be out of a job, but was pleasantly surprised, describing the response of colleagues as "overwhelmingly positive."
She drew a lesson from the experience.
"I think visibility is so important," she said. "I’ve come to realize that people with privilege need to fight for people who don’t have that privilege."
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