This painful information was officially confirmed by the Latvian Mountaineering Association. It is reported that experienced mountain sports enthusiasts Inese Puceke, Vija Olte, and Renars Kunigas-Salakas lost their lives.
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During the accident, Martinis Bilzenas also suffered serious injuries. The victim, in critical condition, was urgently evacuated from the mountain and handed over to US medical care. The other three expedition members – Valdis Purinis, Edgaras Madzulis, and Guntis Svarinis – remained safely at the camp after the incident and, with the help of local rescuers, began descending down.
According to data provided by the US National Park Service, the tragic incident occurred during the ascent stage between the upper intermediate camp and the Denali pass. The climbers began falling from a location near the pass at about 18,200 feet (approximately 5545 meters) altitude.
This high-altitude expedition of the Latvian mountaineering team was planned from May 10 to June 11, with the main goal of reaching the 6190-meter-high Denali summit. The team arrived at the base camp on the Kahiltna Glacier, located at 2200 meters altitude, on May 14, and during the entire trek, they also planned to create a documentary film.
Before departure, the athletes emphasized to the media that the biggest challenge in this expedition was not the mountain height itself, but the extreme weather conditions close to the polar circle. The team prepared to fight freezing 30-degree cold, strong storms, and planned to live in tents on the snow for more than three weeks, carrying backpacks weighing 25 kilograms each and pulling sleds of the same weight.
On May 24, one of the expedition members, Valdis Purinis, shared emotional experiences on social networks and said that due to a grueling ten-hour battle with the wind, the team failed to carry all the necessary cargo to the fourth camp at 5200 meters altitude, so a decision was made to take an additional rest day. All participants in the trek had solid climbing experience. For example, V. Purinis, E. Madzulis, and the deceased I. Puceke had previously successfully conquered the summits of Avicenna (7134 m), Ozodi (formerly Korzhenevskaya, 7105 m), and Ismail Samani (7495 m) in the Pamir Mountains together.
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