Mount Rainier National Park rangers recover body of Canadian climber who fell to his death

The body of a Canadian national who fell to his death on Monday while climbing at Mount Rainier National Park has been recovered.

Park rangers used a helicopter to get to the body. 

“Witnesses reported seeing a climber take a substantial fall while descending the Disappointment Cleaver route on Mount Rainier. The climber, later identified as Canadian national Chun Hui Zhang, 52, of Surrey, British Columbia, was on a private, recreational summit climb of Mount Rainier with friends,” the National Park Service said Thursday.

Witnesses reportedly saw Mr. Zhang take a “substantial fall” while descending the route down the mountain’s south side, according to KING-TV in Seattle.

Although the proximate cause of Mr. Zhang’s fall is unknown, he appeared to have been unroped, according to one park official.

“From all accounts, it appears the individual was unroped, was looking out to something, and then people witnessed the actual fall,” the park’s chief ranger Ben Welch told The News Tribune in Tacoma, Washington.