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National Park Service Ranger Dies After Falling Into Crevasse on Denali

The ranger, from Washington state, fell during a patrol on Mount McKinley, the tallest peak in North America, in what officials called the fourth climbing death of the season.

*Denali / Mount McKinley, Denali National Park* Mount Mckinley Denali Christoph Strässler from Oberdorf BL, Schweiz / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

By Free News Press Editorial Team

Published June 6, 2026 at 1:58 AM PDT

A National Park Service ranger from Washington state died after falling into a crevasse while on patrol on Denali, known officially as Mount McKinley, in Alaska. The Park Service confirmed the death, which marks the fourth climbing fatality of the season on the mountain.

The ranger was conducting a climbing patrol on the peak, which at 20,310 feet is the tallest mountain in North America, when the fatal fall occurred. Further details about the specific location on the mountain or the circumstances leading to the fall were not immediately available from the Park Service.

The death was reported by multiple outlets including the Anchorage Daily News, CBS News, and The Seattle Times. Officials did not immediately release the ranger's name.

Title: Mount McKinley, Denali National Park, Alaska
Physical description: 1 photograph : digital, TIFF file, color.

Notes: Gift and purchase; Carol M. Highsmith; 2009; (DLC/PP-2010:031).; Mount McKinley or Denali ("The Great One") in Alaska is the highest mountain peak in North America, at a height — *Title: Mount McKinley, Denali National Park, Alas…* Denali Mount Mckinley Alaska Carol M. Highsmith / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)