Washington state skier dies in second Mount McKinley incident of 2025 climbing season
A skier died after triggering an avalanche that carried him more than 1,500 feet down North America’s tallest peak, officials said, marking the second death at Denali National Park and Preserve in this year's climbing season.
Nicholas Vizzini, 29, of Washington state, and his climbing partner, a snowboarder, triggered the avalanche high on the 20,310-foot peak as they were descending a slope, the National Park Service said in a statement June 11. The incident occurred at about 6:15 p.m. local time on June 10 while Vizzini and his partner were climbing along the West Buttress route of Denali, recently renamed by the federal government as Mount McKinley.
The park service said Vizzini was confirmed dead after being caught in a "soft slab avalanche" on the West Buttress route, which is the most popular route on the mountain. The top where the avalanche released was at an altitude of about 16,600 feet and ran down to about 15,000 feet.
Two mountaineering rangers, who were on an acclimatization climb on the mountain, responded to the scene in minutes after spotting Vizzini's partner on the surface of the avalanche debris, according to the park service. The rangers were able to detect a signal using a beacon search and located Vizzini, who was found buried in the debris.
"The rangers immediately began digging to establish an airway," the park service said in the statement. "CPR was initiated but discontinued after forty minutes due to traumatic injuries and no pulse."
Vizzini’s body was recovered and later transported to the state medical examiner's office, according to the National Park Service. His partner sustained minor injuries and was scheduled to leave the mountain on June 11.
Latest death on Denali in 2025 climbing season
This was the second death on Denali for this year's climbing season, which typically begins in early May and ends in early July, the park service confirmed. On June 2, a 41-year-old climber from Seattle died from a 3,000-foot fall from the West Buttress route.
"There have been approximately 13 avalanche-related deaths and more than 130 total deaths on the mountain recorded in the history of the park," the park service said in the June 11 statement. "There are currently 500 climbers on the mountain."
Denali National Park and Preserve encompasses more than six million acres of Alaska's wilderness. Falls are the No. 1 cause of death at the park, according to the park service.
Since 1932, 125 climbers have died at the park — including three in 2024, Paste BN previously reported. Along the West Buttress route, 15 climbers have died since 1980, National Park Service spokesperson Amber Smigiel told Paste BN.
Avalanche fatalities in the United States
Each winter, 25 to 30 people die in avalanches in the United States, according to the National Avalanche Center. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center has noted that most incidents involve backcountry skiers, snowboarders, and snowmobilers.
Between December 2024 and March 2025, a total of 21 people were killed by avalanches across the United States, according to data from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
Several incidents have made national headlines, including in late March when a 16-year-old died in an avalanche at a mountain pass within Chugach National Forest in southern Alaska. The death had been the state's fourth snow slide fatality that month.
On March 4, three heli-skiers were killed in an avalanche in the Chugach Mountains near Girdwood, a small resort town about 40 miles southeast of Anchorage. In both incidents, the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center warned of dangerous avalanche conditions in the area.
Also in March, a skier was found dead after being caught in an avalanche in Utah's Uinta Mountains. In February, two separate avalanche incidents in Oregon and California killed three skiers.
Contributing: Melina Khan, Paste BN