Climber Dies Above Windy Corner

A client on a guided expedition collapsed and died of apparent natural causes on Thursday, May 7th, while ascending the West Buttress of Mt. McKinley. William Hearne, 61 of Fairport, New York, was a client on a six-member Mountain Trip expedition which began its ascent on May 1st. Hearne collapsed shortly before 4:00 p.m. after his team had hauled gear from their camp at 11,200 feet to a cache site at 13,500 feet, just above the location known as Windy Corner. The expedition guides immediately began CPR and were soon assisted by two mountaineering rangers who happened to be at Windy Corner retrieving gear.  CPR was performed for over 30 minutes, but Hearne never regained a pulse.  Two advanced medical providers on the same NPS patrol, a paramedic and a nurse, arrived on scene from the 14,200-foot camp at 4:30 p.m.  Shortly thereafter, Hearne was pronounced deceased after telephone consultation with the park’s physician sponsor. While the five team members returned to their camp at 11,200 feet, rangers secured the deceased in place at 13,500 feet for later helicopter evacuation. The park’s 2009 mountaineering season only recently got underway.  A total of 1,052 climbers are registered to attempt Mt. McKinley this season, 167 of whom are currently on the mountain.  Of the ten mountaineers that already completed attempts, eight reached the summit.