Two climbers were scaling Mount Johnson in Denali National Park when tragedy struck. They plummeted roughly 300 meters during their ascent. Sadly, Robbi Mecus, a 52-year-old forest ranger from New York State, lost his life in the fall. His climbing partner, Melissa Orzechowski, 30, suffered critical injuries.
The duo was tackling a challenging route known as The Escalator, spanning about 1,500 meters and featuring various terrains on Mount Johnson’s southeast face. Other climbers witnessed the accident and promptly alerted the Alaska Regional Communication Center at 10:45 PM that fateful evening.
Upon reaching the fallen climbers, the witnesses discovered Robbi’s unfortunate demise. They quickly improvised a snow cave for shelter and administered first aid to Melissa, sustaining her until help arrived the following morning.
Melissa was airlifted to a hospital in Anchorage for urgent medical care. Meanwhile, rescuers successfully recovered Robbi’s body on Saturday, April 27th.
Deceased climber’s background
The climber who tragically passed away had quite a remarkable life story. Mecus was a familiar face in the Upstate New York climbing community and played an active role in rescue operations and educating others about outdoor pursuits. Coming out as a transgender woman in her forties, Mecus bravely shared her true identity and later spoke of feeling embraced by her community, as recounted by North Country Radio.
Sean Mahar, the interim commissioner of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), lauded Mecus’s unwavering commitment to safeguarding the environment and serving the people of New York during her impressive 25-year tenure with the DEC.
Meanwhile, Orzechowski, Mecus’s climbing partner who survived the fall, boasts a background as a former educator, accomplished climber, and co-founder of the Adirondack Queer Ice Fest. In a bid to support Orzechowski’s recovery and assist her family in traveling to the hospital in Alaska where she is undergoing treatment, a fundraising campaign has been initiated on GoFundMe.
