In this Friday, June 15, 2012 photo provided by the National Park Service, climbers hike through the area where an avalanche swept a Japanese climbing team off a hill during their descent from Alaska's Mount McKinley. U.S. National Park Service officials say five people were traveling as a one rope team early Thursday morning as part of a Miyagi Workers Alpine Federation expedition on the Alaska mountain. The NPS said Hitoshi Ogi, 69, survived after falling 60 feet (18 meters) into a crevasse. He was able to climb out. The other four tumbled into the avalanche debris and haven't been seen since. (AP Photo/National Park Service, Kevin Wright)
In this Friday, June 15, 2012 photo provided by the National Park Service, climbers hike through the area where an avalanche swept a Japanese climbing team off a hill during their descent from Alaska's Mount McKinley. U.S. National Park Service officials say five people were traveling as a one rope team early Thursday morning as part of a Miyagi Workers Alpine Federation expedition on the Alaska mountain. The NPS said Hitoshi Ogi, 69, survived after falling 60 feet (18 meters) into a crevasse. He was able to climb out. The other four tumbled into the avalanche debris and haven't been seen since. (AP Photo/National Park Service, Kevin Wright)
In this Friday, June 15, 2012 photo provided by the National Park Service, climbers hike through the area where an avalanche swept a Japanese climbing team off a hill during their descent from Alaska's Mount McKinley. U.S. National Park Service officials say five people were traveling as a one rope team early Thursday morning as part of a Miyagi Workers Alpine Federation expedition on the Alaska mountain. The NPS said Hitoshi Ogi, 69, survived after falling 60 feet (18 meters) into a crevasse. He was able to climb out. The other four tumbled into the avalanche debris and haven't been seen since. (AP Photo/National Park Service, Kevin Wright)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) ? A shallow avalanche on Alaska's Mount McKinley may not have killed four Japanese climbers, but the slide pushed them into a crevasse more than 100 feet deep, the National Park Service said Sunday.
Spokeswoman Kris Fister said Sunday that the search for the climbers was permanently suspended after a mountaineering ranger found the climbing rope in debris at the bottom of the crevasse.
"We believe this is their final resting place," Fister said.
Yoshiaki Kato, 64, Masako Suda, 50, Michiko Suzuki 56, and 63-year-old Tamao Suzuki, 63, are missing and presumed dead.
The avalanche early Wednesday morning also pushed Hitoshi Ogi, 69, into the crevasse. Ogi climbed 60 feet out of the crevasse and reached a base camp Thursday.
Ogi had been attached to the other members of the team by climbing rope as they descended in an avalanche-prone section of the West Buttress Route. The rope broke in the avalanche and fall.
The group was on a section known as Motorcycle Hill at about 11,800 feet, which has a 35-degee slope. Climbers who take a required briefing on the mountain are warned of the avalanche danger there.
"This is the first time there have been fatalities," Fister said.
The avalanche, likely caused by new snow falling on rock or hardened snow and ice, measured 200 feet wide and 800 feet top to bottom, Fisher said. It created a snow pile averaging only 3-4 feet deep.
A 10-person ground crew searched for the climbers Saturday. The patrol included a rescue dog and a handler. The crew probed the avalanche debris zone and found no sign of the missing climbers.
Park Service mountaineering ranger Tucker Chenoweth, however, found grim signs of the doomed climbing team in the crevasse below where Ogi had fallen.
He descended about 100 feet, and while probing through debris, found the other end of Ogi's rope. He continued to dig but found compacted ice and snow debris.
The danger of falling ice made it too dangerous to continue an attempt to recover bodies, Fister said.
All the climbers were members of the Japanese alpine club Miyagi Workers Alpine Federation.
Ogi suffered a minor hand injury, according to the Park Service. He was flown off the mountain Thursday.
Associated Press
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