Death on Denali
Mountaineers can't hide from their mortality. Climb long enough and seriously enough, and the list of friends and acquaintances who have died on the mountain begins to resemble the obit page of a nursing home newsletter.
New York Times writer and weekend climber Timothy Egan muses on a recent death on the summit of Denali. The victim, 51-year-old James Nasti, was a highpointer (someone who tries to reach the highest point of all 50 states) on his 49th high point. He simply collapsed and died.
After deaths like these, people are always looking for answers, Egan writes - a frayed rope, a hidden health condition, a hubristic push through bad weather. But Nasti, the 101st person to die on Denali, did not appear to have done anything wrong. Cases like these, Egan writes, are the most maddening and troubling. Probably because it reminds us that no matter how calculated the trip, no matter how capable we are, there will always be uncontrollable risks.
--Emily Matchar
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