Rangers in Alaska’s Denali National Park hope today brings better weather for continuing their search for a 36-year-old Vail woman – described in climbing circles as a “rock and ice queen extraordinare” – and her Canadian climbing partner.
Sue Nott and Karen McNeill, 37, of Canmore, Alberta, have been considered overdue from their climb of a steep, mixed-terrain route on Mount Foraker in the Alaska Range.
The women are experienced climbers who have teamed up several times before, including in India’s Himalayas.
Nott’s mother, Eve, said her daughter is a focused athlete with “an undying spirit” and for whom climbing is “an unrelenting passion.”
Eve Nott, of Boulder, said McNeill “is in fantastic shape.”
The women began their ascent of the route called Infinite Spur on May 14 and had enough food and fuel for 10 to 14 days.
“We’ve been searching since Thursday evening when multiple layers of concern bumped us over the level of comfort,” said park spokeswoman Maureen McLaughlin.
Nott’s family said they received a call from park rangers on Friday. Her father Bob, a Vail resident, said they last heard from her a month ago, “which is not unusual. She usually takes a spring climb and when she goes in, there’s no cell service or anything.”
On Friday, searchers recovered a ripped backpack that McLaughlin said they are sure belongs to the women since they were the only ones on that climbing route.
“It’s definitely not a good sign,” McLaughlin said.
On Saturday, clouds obscured the climbing route’s middle section, McLaughlin said, although clearer skies are forecast for today.
Sue Nott began ice climbing in Vail in 1989. Since then, she has added a number of technical ice and rock climbs and first ascents around the world. She also has competed in numerous Ouray Ice Festivals in Colorado.
In 1999, Nott suffered severe abdominal injuries when a tower of ice collapsed on her while climbing in Vail. “I flatlined, but they brought me back,” the website for Outside magazine quoted her as saying.
Five months later, Nott was climbing in Patagonia.
Nott, a personal trainer at the Vail Athletic Club and technical adviser for Mountain Hardwear climbing gear, was a walk-on cross-country competitor at the University of Arizona.
“We’re hoping and praying for the best,” her mother said Saturday night. “Her courage and grace are always evident. Hopefully, this will pull her through.”
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
