Doctor lies about hypothermia to get climbers airlifted off Alaska mountain, feds say
A Utah doctor is accused of lying about climbers suffering from hypothermia and shock to have the National Park Service airlift them from an Alaska mountain in the spring, federal officials said.
Jason Lance faces three charges — interference with a government employee, violating lawful order and false report, according to a federal criminal complaint filed on Nov. 9.
Lance tried to conceal and erase the messages from the tracking device he used to get help, court documents show.
On May 24, Lance set out to climb the summit of Denali in Alaska, a 20,310-foot mountain with the highest peak in North America.
He partnered with 31-year-old Adam Rawski to reach the summit from a 14,200-foot-camp, the complaint says.
As the duo climbed the mountain, Rawski began to have altitude sickness symptoms before plunging nearly 1,000 feet from the Denali Pass, Denali National Park Service reported in a news release.
Lance called for help using Rawski’s Garmin inReach — a device that uses satellite to send text messages, emails or an SOS message.
A helicopter rescued Rawski within 30 minutes and helped transport him to an Anchorage hospital where he was listed in critical condition, the park service said in the release.
Rawski’s condition as of Nov. 11 is unclear.
An hour later, Lance used the device to tell officials his group of three had no injuries, but they were without equipment and needed evacuation, court documents show. He later deleted the message.
“If you have a rope available, you need to rope up and start descending,” the federal agency wrote back to Lance.
Officials also told him they couldn’t send a helicopter because it wouldn’t be flying again that night, court documents show.
In response, Lance said the climbers had early signs of hypothermia and shock. A helicopter then tried to reach the climbers but turned around after getting a report they began going down the mountain, federal prosecutors said in the criminal complaint.
The two climbers recalled him saying the park service was “obligated” to help airlift them because “we’ve paid our fee,” the documents show.
Neither of the climbers said they had hypothermia or shock. But they said they spent hours convincing Lance to descend the mountain after Rawski fell, court documents state.
Two days after the mountain climb, Lance told authorities he knew signs of hypothermia “better” than the climbers would, the documents show.
Lance faces misdemeanor charges. His detention hearing is scheduled for Dec. 6.
This story was originally published November 11, 2021 at 12:20 PM with the headline "Doctor lies about hypothermia to get climbers airlifted off Alaska mountain, feds say."
