Mount Rainier
Chunhui Zhang, 52, of Surrey, British Columbia, fell to his death from Mount Rainier.
He was reportedly making a private summit with friends on Aug. 22 when witnesses reported seeing him “fall badly” on the Disappointed Cleaver route, the National Park Service said in a news release.
Mountain guides and rangers were unable to locate him, and he was found the next day with the help of a helicopter.
Senior Mount Rainier National Park official Ben Welch said officials did not know if he used a safety line, which was not required.
Zhang was descending the mountain when two staff of international mountain guides were preparing for a privately guided climb when they saw him fall, according to a statement from Welch and the park service.
The guides helped other climbers in the area arrive safely, the statement said.
The service said multiple attempts to find Zhang’s body were unsuccessful. His body was recovered by park rangers on August 23 with the help of a National Park Service helicopter.
According to the Park Service, thousands of climbers reach the summit of Mount Rainier each year.
The Disappointment Cleaver-Ingraham Glacier Direct is the most popular, accounting for 75% of all summit attempts. Fifty percent of Mount Rainier summit attempts are successful, with “climber fatigue” considered the most common reason for turnbacks.
