Climber Dies After Fall From Washington's Mount Rainier

ASHFORD, WA — A Canadian man is dead after falling from a popular summit route in Washington's Mount Rainier National Park, park officials said in a news release.

Chun Hui Zhang, 52, of Surrey, British Columbia, died Monday while descending the Disappointment Cleaver route on Mount Rainier. According to park officials, witnesses reported seeing Zhang take a "substantial" fall while making the descent.

Zhang was on a recreational climb of Mount Rainier with friends, park officials said.

Several unsuccessful attempts were made by National Park Service rangers and mountain guides to find Zhang's body. A team of rangers using a helicopter found him the following day and were able to access and extricate Zhang's body.

Mount Rainier is an active volcano towering over Washington state at 14,410 feet above sea level. It is the most glaciated peak in the contiguous United States.

Zhang's death is one of several this year among climbers attempting to summit some of North America's most formidable peaks.

In July, a 79-year-old Florida man fell to his death while trying to ascend a steep off-trail slope on Rising Wolf Mountain in Montana's Glacier National Park. The death happened the same day the bodies of two overdue hikers were found on Dusty Star Mountain in the Lewis Range of the park.

A month earlier, a New Jersey climber died while trying to summit Alaska's Denali, the tallest mountain in North America. In California, climbers were airlifted off Mount Shasta. Many were in critical condition and one climber died of their injuries, Siskiyou County officials said.

Earlier this year, a climber also died after falling 200 feet from Oregon's Mt. Hood.