ONE of the two Penang-based mountaineers who survived harrowing conditions descending from the highest peak in North America, Mount Denali, said he was lucky to be alive.
He overcame frostbite and mental trauma as he scaled down to seek help for two other stricken climbers, who were sheltering inside a cave.
Illaham Ishak, 47, was sorry help could not arrive in time. His compatriot Zulkifly Yusuf died two days after his legs became paralysed due to the frostbite.
Recalling his ordeal to Balik Pulau MP Datuk Muhammed Bakhtiar Wan Chik, Illaham said he was forced to leave Zulkifly with another climber, Zainudin Lot, 47, as he descended, braving flurries and a winter storm to seek help.
Illaham did it despite nursing his own set of frostbite as the weather turned unforgiving to the climbers from the Penang-based Alpine Club Malaysia.
Bakhtiar said Illaham was quite emotional about the episode.
Zulkifly became the second Malaysian mountaineer to perish barely a year after the hearing-impaired high-peak climber Muhammad Hawari Hashim from Prai went missing while descending from Camp Four, which is near the summit of Mount Everest in the Himalayas of Nepal.
Zulkifly died last Wednesday while seeking shelter at a place called the "Football Field" cave shelter at Mount Denali in Alaska, USA.
In an almost eerily similar situation to Hawari, Zulkifly, 37, passed on in the bitter cold while also descending, but from an altitude of 6,000m atop Mount Denali.
Hawari, 33, went missing on May 20 last year, whereas Zulkifly was believed to have perished on May 29 due to the torrid high altitude.
Bakhtiar, who helped flag off Zulkifly's expedition last month, confirmed the news over social media, expressing his condolences to the family.
The Alpine Club posted on Facebook that Zulkifly died on May 29 while taking shelter in the snow.
The cause of death is believed to be cerebral oedema, a life-threatening condition that occurs when excess fluid builds up in the brain's tissues.
The cause of death will be confirmed through a post-mortem, Bakhtiar said.
It was earlier reported that Denali National Park had received an SOS call from two of the Malaysian climbers that they were unable to descend the summit as they were hypothermic.
The mountain's highly trained rangers were unable to reach Zulkifly on time.
It is believed that the weather with poor visibility played a part.
Mount Denali is the highest in North America, and the group of Malaysian climbers had a lot of experience climbing peaks all over the world.
It also said that the second climber, Zainudin, was rescued yesterday and was receiving treatment at another hospital in Talkeetna, Alaska.
“His condition is stable, but he has frostbite on both hands,” it said.
Illaham was rescued last Tuesday.
Earlier this week, a third member of the three-member Malaysian team was evacuated from 17,200 feet, the day the high-altitude rescue operations started.
The club members had previously conquered Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895m) in 2009, the Elbrus Mountain (5,642m) in Russia, Mount Everest (8,848m) in Nepal, Mount Aconcagua (6,961m) in Argentina, and Mount Cartenz Pyramid (4,884m) in Indonesia.
The remaining peaks were Mount Denali (6,194m) in Alaska and Mount Vinson Massif (4,892m) in Antarctica, South Pole.
Zulkifly, originally from Kuala Lumpur, is regarded by the club as a professional climber.
He worked as a gas engineer. – June 2, 2024.
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