Skier Dies in Mt. McKinley Avalanche

A skier from Washington state died Tuesday after he and his climbing partner triggered an avalanche on Mount McKinley, aka Denali. Officials say 29-year-old Nicholas Vizzini and his climbing partner, who was snowboarding, triggered the slide at about 16,600 feet elevation and ended up at around 15,000 feet, KTUU reports. According to a news release from Denali National Park and Preserve, two rangers who were on an acclimatization climb arrived at the scene within minutes. The snowboarder, who had minor injuries, was on top of the debris field, but rangers had to use a locating beacon to find Vizzini, officials said

They dug him out of the debris and tried CPR for around 40 minutes but were unable to revive him. The slide was below the mountain's West Buttress route, where a ski mountaineer from Seattle died in a 3,000-foot fall last week. That was the first death of this year's climbing season, the AP reports. Three people died on America's tallest mountain last year. Park officials said there are around 500 climbers currently on the mountain. "There have been approximately 13 avalanche-related deaths and more than 130 total deaths on the mountain recorded in the history of the park," the park said. (More Denali stories.)