Ten days past his end date, a Japanese climber summoned help to get off Mount Hunter in Denali National Park/Copyright QT Luong, www.terragalleria.com/parks

On day 75 of a planned 65-day solo trek near the roof of Denali National Park in Alaska, Masatoshi Kuriaki had had enough. With the press of a button on his personal locator beacon, the Japanese mountaineer summoned help from the park's climbing rangers.

That was Friday. On Sunday, Denali rescue personnel conducted a short-haul helicopter rescue to pluck the 42-year-old Mr. Kuriaki, of Fukuoka, Japan, from Mount Hunter, a peak that climbs to 14,573-feet. The mountaineer was rescued from about 8,600 feet up the mountain, along its West Ridge climbing route.

Denali's Communications Center received an S-O-S notification at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, April 1 from the climber. Denali mountaineering rangers then requested assistance from the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center. At 10 a.m. that morning, the Alaska Air National Guard launched an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter from the 210th Rescue Squadron and an HC-130 King aircraft from the 211th Rescue Squadron, each with a team of Air National Guard Pararescuemen from the 212th Rescue Squadron.

Marginal weather prevented the Pave Hawk crew from approaching Mount Hunter; however, the crew aboard the HC-130 was able to make positive radio contact with the stranded climber at 10:30 a.m. on April 1.

According to the radio communications on Friday morning, Mr. Kuriaki said he was not injured, but wanted emergency assistance; he had two days of food left, three-to-four days of water, and an adequate snow shelter. 

Avalanche danger was considered high to extreme on all mountain aspects, according to park personnel. A recent winter storm cycle had brought unusually warm and wet weather conditions to south-central Alaska. Reports from backcountry users indicated that at least 30 inches of snow fell at mid elevations of the Alaska Range through Thursday of last week, with over a foot of additional snow accumulation through the weekend.

Continued storm activity prevented additional rescue flights the remainder of Friday and all day Saturday. By Sunday, April 3, Denali National Park’s contracted A-Star B3e high altitude helicopter was available as an air resource. Helicopter pilot Andy Hermansky flew to the Kahiltna Glacier with Denali mountaineering rangers Chris Erickson and David Weber at 12 p.m. Sunday under clearing skies. Mr. Kuriaki was short-hauled from his camp on Mount Hunter to the glacier below in an external rescue basket. The pilot, crew, and climber then flew back to Talkeetna.

According to the park, Masatoshi Kuriaki is extremely experienced in solo winter mountaineering in Denali National Park and Preserve. According to park records, this is his 19th expedition in the Alaska Range, 17 of which were solo winter climbs. This season’s attempt was his ninth winter solo expedition on Mount Hunter. Mr. Kuriaki has attempted Denali (20,310 feet) four times in winter, including a successful winter solo ascent on March 8, 1998.

He also has attempted Mount Foraker (17,400 feet) five times, successfully reaching the summit three times, including the first solo winter ascent of that peak on March 10, 2007.