Missing Climbers on McKinley

[Bucky]

[Mulboyne]

Seattle Times: Alaska's Mount McKinley a deadly lure for Japanese climbers

One hundred people have lost their lives climbing North America's tallest peak, and a high number of them have been Japanese. The most recent to perish were Tatsuro Yamada, 27, and Yuto Inoue, 24, who were scheduled to return from Mount McKinley's Cassin Ridge on May 22. Officials at Denali National Park and Preserve called off the search for them May 29, estimating they'd been without food and water for as long as 14 days. Of the 100 climbers who have died on the mountain since 1932, 17 have been from Japan. Japanese climbers perish at an even higher rate when you include fatalities on other Alaska Range peaks, such as Foraker and Hunter. Nine of the 39 climbers who've died on peaks other than McKinley have been from Japan. That means 19 percent of Alaska Range climbers who've gone up but never come down are Japanese...Yamada and Inoue were members of a group of Japanese climbers called the Giri-Giri Boys, who are pursuing mountaineering firsts around the globe...more...

[Mulboyne]

[Mike Oxlong]

Alas, summiting is only half the battle...it's all good and well to break records and pioneer new routes, but that means a lot more when you make the return trip.

[IkemenTommy]

Those were some young fellahs too.