Local News
Mankato doc dies on Mt. McKinley
Related Photos
-
Dr. Andrew Swanson
-
Dr. Scott Stevens of the Orthopaedic and Fracture Clinic spoke Friday about the mountain climbing death of his colleague, Dr. Andrew Swanson. Swanson, 36, died on Mount McKinley in Alaska on Thursday. John Cross
Discussion
Add a comment on this storyTools
He, companion fell into crevasse
MANKATO — A Mankato surgeon who died Thursday while climbing Alaska’s Mount McKinley was remembered for the confident, calming effect he brought to the Orthopaedic & Fracture Clinic, fellow surgeon Scott Stevens said.
Andrew Swanson, 36, was roped to climber and 39-year-old doctor John Mislow of Newton, Mass., who also died. They fell into a snow gully called Messner Couloir, according to the National Park Service.
“He was one of those people that would come in the morning with a smile, he’d have a smile in the middle of the day and still would be smiling at the end of the day, no matter what his day was like,” Stevens said.
His death was felt even more acutely at the clinic, as Swanson is the son of Dr. Gene Swanson and the brother of Dr. Kyle Swanson, both of whom are orthopedic surgeons at the clinic. Neither was present Friday at a press briefing.
At 20,320 feet, Mount McKinley is North America’s tallest peak, but both men were experienced and responsible climbers.
In 2000, they shared the National Park Service’s Denali Pro award, which is given to climbers who put others’ needs ahead of their own.
According to the parks service, “their good humor, selfless behavior and respect for the mountain earned them this award.”
The precise cause of their deaths were unclear, though other climbers saw the men falling between a 16,500-foot elevation and a camp at 14,500 feet.
They were roped to each other, which usually allows climbers to stop a partner who falls, said Kris Fister, a public affairs officer at the park. It’s not known what caused Swanson and Mislow to fall.
Three nearby skiers were the first to reach their bodies, the Associated Press reported.
Stevens described his colleague as having an “even keel” type of personality, and he “never got the feeling that he was an adrenaline junkie out for the next thrill.”
Deaths on McKinley are infrequent, Fister said.
One climber died this year, of a heart attack, and four climbers died last year, two of whom also had heart attacks.
- Local News
-
-
Doomed depot resurrected in Wells
Goodbye pigeon droppings and leaky roof, hello rebirth for a historic Wells rail depot given up for dead just a few years ago.
- Mankato schools closing early
-
Area Weather Closings
Click here to see area closings due to weather.
-
Winter weather watch, road conditions
MnDOT's up to the minute Road conditions map.
See the National Weather Service continually updated Weather forecast
-
Students, strangers reach out to victim's father
The father of Ashley Sullivan, who was killed last month by her estranged boyfriend, gets some comfort from the youngsters at the Lake Crystal elementary school where he works.
-
Authorities: One victim wasn’t shot
Investigators today will meet with family of murder victims to describe their findings on the Jan. 17 killings.
-
Survivor of car-pedestrian accident sues
The civil suit against Jesse Mann, who was 17 when the accident occurred, claims he was negligent.
-
Third clue for Winterfest Medallion
Winterfest’s Winter Medallion Hunt began Saturday.
-
Man arrested after shotgun incident
No one was hurt after a shotgun went off during a fight in North Mankato, but one man was arrested for felony assault.
-
Weird News: Jewelry bugged ’em at border
In January, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers confiscated a live, jeweled beetle that a woman was wearing as an “accessory” on her sweater as she crossed into Brownsville, Texas, from Mexico.
- More Local News Headlines
-
