15 Hours in a Crevasse: The Denali Rescue That Shouldn't Have Worked

Trauma surgeon Martin Takac came to Alaska to climb Denali, the highest mountain in North America. He reached the summit. The hardest part, it seemed, was behind him.

Then, on the descent, the ground disappeared.

A hidden snow bridge collapsed beneath Martin, dropping him deep into a crevasse on the Kahiltna Glacier. He survived the fall—but his body became wedged so tightly inside the narrowing walls of blue ice that rescuers couldn't simply pull him back out.

What followed was an extraordinary 15-hour crevasse rescue involving Denali guides, National Park Service mountaineering rangers, volunteers, a helicopter pilot, and eventually a piece of equipment no one would normally expect to see on a glacier. Meanwhile, Martin was trapped almost completely motionless as the cold slowly pushed his body into profound hypothermia.

In this episode of The Crux: True Survival Stories, we follow the rescue hour by hour and explore hidden crevasses, snow bridges, glacier travel, severe hypothermia, and the decisions that can separate an ordinary descent from a fight for survival.

00:00 — Podcast Cold Open
00:28 — Trapped in Blue Ice
01:43 — Meet Martin Takac
02:46 — Finding the Edge
04:32 — How Far Can You Go?
06:24 — The Seven Summits
07:47 — Why Denali Is Different
09:44 — The Descent
10:22 — A Calculated Risk
11:48 — One Last Decision
12:51 — What Lies Beneath the Glacier
14:12 — One Careful Step
16:51 — A Man Disappears
18:23 — The Rope Won’t Move
19:33 — The Trap Inside the Crevasse
19:57 — Sixty Feet Down
21:35 — The Rescue Begins
22:34 — The Cold Takes Over
24:58 — Into the Blue
26:39 — Running Out of Options
29:31 — The Perfect Disguise
31:47 — Time Becomes the Enemy
33:17 — One Last Idea
34:57 — Back Into the Light
35:55 — How Is He Still Alive?
39:06 — What the Glacier Left Behind

References

National Park Service. “Two Climbers Rescued from the Kahiltna Glacier.” June 5, 2017.
https://www.nps.gov/dena/two-climbers-rescued-from-the-kahiltna-glacier.htm

Anchorage Daily News. “Inside the Dramatic, 14-Hour Rescue That Freed a Climber From a Deep Crevasse on Denali.” June 6, 2017.
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2017/06/06/the-story-behind-the-dramatic-14-hour-rescue-that-freed-a-slovakian-climber-from-a-deep-crevasse-on-denali/

Anchorage Daily News. “Denali Climber Who Survived 15 Hours in Crevasse Says He Is Grateful for a New Life.” June 20, 2017.
https://www.adn.com/opinions/2017/06/20/denali-climber-who-survived-15-hours-in-crevasse-says-he-is-grateful-for-a-new-life/

CBS News / Associated Press. “High Drama: 15-Hour Rescue From North America’s Tallest Mountain, Alaska’s Denali.” June 7, 2017.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/15-hour-rescue-north-americas-tallest-mountain-alaskas-denali/

CBC News. “‘Not for the Claustrophobic’: Climber Falls Down Narrow Crevasse on Alaskan Glacier, Rescuers Chip Him Out.” June 8, 2017.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/denali-crevasse-climber-rescue-alaska-1.4149936

Mountain Trip. “June 2 West Buttress Team — Guides Perform Crevasse Rescue on Unroped, Private Climber.” June 6, 2017.
https://mountaintrip.com/trip-reports/new-audio-recording-396/

Unofficial Networks. “Colorado Guides Receive National Bravery Award for Saving Climber’s Life on Denali.” September 16, 2022.
https://unofficialnetworks.com/2022/09/16/mountain-trip-bravery-award-denali/

WesternSlopeNow (KREX). “Colorado Guides Recognized for Saving Climber’s Life.” September 2022.
https://www.westernslopenow.com/news/colorado-guides-recognized-for-saving-climbers-life/

Noviny.sk (TV JOJ). “Aljaska: Slovenský Horolezec Spadol do Úzkej Trhliny v Ľade.” June 7, 2017.
https://www.noviny.sk/zahranicie/229582-aljaska-slovensky-horolezec-spadol-do-uzkej-trhliny-v-lade

U.S. Geological Survey. “Geology of Denali National Park and Preserve.”
https://www.usgs.gov/geology-and-ecology-of-national-parks/geology-denali-national-park-and-preserve

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