The body of a Dartmouth alumnus who was buried by an avalanche while attempting to ascend 14,573-foot Mount Hunter in Alaska's Denali National Park was recovered Tuesday.
The body of his climbing partner, also a Dartmouth alumnus, was discovered but was unable to be removed from the mountain.
The body of Chuck Drake '90, first spotted in a snow and ice-filled gully on July 2, was recovered by a National Park Service helicopter Tuesday, according to Denali National Park public information officer Jane Tranell.
"Another avalanche knocked his body loose, and we were able to recover it," she said. "We short-hauled in a ranger in a rescue helicopter and we managed to retrieve Chuck's body."
Tranell said Drake's parents traveled to Denali to help identify the body previously identified as Drake's only by the color of his parka.
The rescue effort also located what is believed to be the body of Drake's partner Joshua Hane '89, which was believed to be trapped underneath nearby debris, but poor conditions hindered the recovery of Hane's body, she said.
"From what we can see, it looks like Josh is pretty much clipped in to the mountain," she said.
"We're not sure if he'll ever be where we can get to him. The rescue team couldn't get to the site because of the avalanches, which number up to 15 a day," she said.
Also hindering the rescuers' efforts are the closing of the nearest alpine base camp and the grounding of Denali's rescue helicopters as the summer climbing season winds down.
Tranell said passing aircraft are noting the position of Hane's corpse.
"Generally, by the first week in July the season is over," she said. "At this point, it looks like we'll find Josh's body next year."
Drake and Hane began their ascent of Mount Hunter's western ridge, a route which has never been successfully climbed, on June 22.
When the pair failed to return after five days, they were declared missing and the Park Service began an aerial search.
Two German climbers perished in May while attempting to ascend Mount Hunter by a different route. They were also buried by avalanches.
