Posted on Sun, Jun. 11, 2006

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Hopes of finding climbers fading

By CRAIG MEDRED

Anchorage Daily News

McNEILL FAMILY VIA THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Karen McNeill, left, and Sue Nott on Mount Denali, which they climbed in 2004. They started up Mount Foraker in May but are feared dead.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Two of North America's most celebrated female climbers are now feared to have died on the slopes of Mount Foraker, leaving Denali National Park with a new and troubling mystery: What happened to 36-year-old Sue Nott of Vail, Colo., and her climbing partner, 37-year-old Karen McNeill of Canmore, Alberta?

Not since the disappearance of Japanese national hero Naomi Uemura on nearby Mount McKinley in 1984 has such an intensive search been launched from the park's Kahiltna Glacier base camp with so few results. Rangers found a backpack, sleeping bag and other gear that had apparently fallen as the women climbed the Infinite Spur route.

Tracks believed to be the women's come within 1,000 feet of the 17,400-foot summit.

But nine days of searching have yielded no other clues. Two years ago, the duo became the first women to conquer the challenging Cassin Ridge on nearby McKinley. Nott and McNeill started up Mount Foraker on May 14.

Faint hopes remain that they could be alive. Miracles have happened in the mountains before. Climbers everywhere are familiar with the story of comatose Beck Weathers, left for dead high on Mount Everest in the Himalayas, only to rouse himself and walk back to life.

National Park Service spokeswoman Kris Fister said search-and-rescue teams will remain on standby through the weekend.

They want to get one last, good look at the summit before officially calling off the search, she said.