The incident is the second climbing death, but the first avalanche related, on Mt. McKinley/Denali this season. 41 year old mountaineer Alex Chiu died after falling 3,000 feet on Denali’s West Buttress route just last week.

The skier and his climbing partner, who was snowboarding, were caught as they descended a slope on the West Buttress Route, park officials said.

A 29-year-old skier from Washington died in an avalanche in Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve, making it the second death this season, officials said. Nicholas Vizzini was caught in the avalanche at about 6:15 p.