National Park Service rangers established radio contact with the climbers to obtain a report on their condition. Hollinshead told rangers that around 6am on Thursday the group was descending, roped together just below the 20,000 foot level. Vardy reportedly tripped and the group fell 300 feet. Hollinshead and Ball were able to stop the fall by using their ice axes to dig into the slope. The group descended to 19,500 feet to take shelter from high winds near the summit. The group was reportedly climbing with little extra gear when the incident occurred. At this time it is not known if the group had summited.

Hollinshead reported that he injured his shoulder in the fall. He and Vardy suffered from varying degrees of frostbite to the feet and hands. Vardy was reported to have severe frostbite on his face. Rangers explained to the climbers how to put on the screamer suit and how to attach it to the short haul rope on the Lama. Lama pilot Jim Hood then returned to the site to pick up Vardy and drop off another suit for Hollinshead. Vardy was transported to base Camp at 7,700 feet. The Lama then returned to 19,500 feet and short hauled Hollinshead to Base Camp as well. The short haul technique is used to insert and extract rescuers and injured parties from a location where a helicopter is unable to land.

According to Hollinshead, Ball felt strong enough to descend the mountain via the West Buttress route. He began his descent at 1:30pm Thursday afternoon. He was attempting to reach the ranger camp at 14,200 feet on McKinley. Ball is still unaccounted for at this time. All three climbers had previous experience climbing at high altitudes. Hollinshead felt that Ball was the strongest of the three climbers. Rangers and air rescue crews will continue their search for Ball as soon as there is adequate daylight.

A fixed-wing with Hudson Air Service transported Vardy and Hollinshead from Base Camp to Talkeetna. The patients were then transferred to a Lifeflight helicopter and flown to Providence Hospital in Anchorage. An Air National Guard C-130 has been assisting with communications throughout the rescue. Volunteer mountaineer and veteran climber Jack Tackle, along with volunteer patrol members Bill Culbreath, Andy Byerly and Darin Jernigan, are at the High Camp near the 17,200 foot level. These climbers were the ground rescue crew headed to the summit to assist the British. This patrol and rangers at the 14,200 foot level camp will resume a ground search for Ball.

The weather forecast for today calls for mostly cloudy skies at 14,000 feet with east winds near 20mph. A high of 5° is forecast with a low of -5°. Weather on the summit will be mostly cloudy with northeast winds near 40mph.

— Denali Information Office