Mountain Climber Falls Nearly 1,000 Feet In Alaska’s Denali National Park… Only Suffers Minor Injuries

Denali

Talk about an absolute miracle.

Whenever you hear stories about people falling down a mountain, it typically results in the person suffering from a life altering injury, or death…

You almost NEVER here about the person ending up okay.

However, according to USA Today, this incredibly rare circumstance occurred recently after a climber fell more than 1,000 feet off of a ridge in Alaska’s Denali National Park, and they only suffered minor injuries, the National Park Service says.

24-year-old mountain climber Tatsuto Hatanaka of Setagaya-ku, Japan, was flown by medical helicopter to a hospital after park officials said he fell from a ridge on the West Buttress, which sits at an elevation of 16,200 feet, while he was climbing to Peters Glacier last Friday night.

Hatanaka was climbing with a partner, when around 11 PM his partner watched him fall from a ridge, but couldn’t see where he landed.

Around 2 PM on Saturday, Rangers were alerted about the fall, and a National Park Service helicopter was dispatched to the area, where they discovered Hatanaka alive.

Rangers then went on a ground search to locate Hatanaka from an elevated foot camp, and found him at an elevation of 15,100 feet on the upper Peters Glacier.

A ranger evacuated him, and said that he only suffered “minor injuries,” although the park did not disclose what minor injuries he suffered.

Needless to say, I’m sure Hatanaka was counting his blessings after seeing his life flash before his eyes. I mean more than 1,000 feet…

That’s a LONG way.

But for views like this, it’s just about worth it:

A beer bottle on a dock

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A beer bottle on a dock