ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A Utah doctor is accused of lying about ill patients in his Denali climbing party so he could be rescued by a government helicopter — and then destroying evidence of the deception.
He reportedly tried to persuade other climbers to go along with his plan because “we’ve paid our fee.”
Jason Lance, 47, a radiologist in Ogden, Utah, was charged last week with three misdemeanors arising from his May attempt to summit Denali, the 20,310-foot Alaska peak that is North America’s tallest.
Lance declined comment to The Associated Press on Thursday. His virtual arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 6 through the U.S. District Court in Fairbanks.
According to court documents, Lance and a man identified only as A.R. met at a camp near 14,000 feet on the mountain and decided on May 24 to team up for an attempt on the summit by the West Buttress route.
Somewhere around 19,000 feet, A.R. began to exhibit symptoms of altitude sickness. Lance left him with another group of climbers and continued ascending alone, according to court documents. He also took A.R.’s satellite communication device.
Two other climbers abandoned their summit attempt to help the ill man descend.
Lance later abandoned his own attempt and caught up with A.R. and the two others as they were descending. Around Denali Pass, at 18,200 feet, A.R. fell about 1,000 feet down a slope.
Lance triggered the satellite communication device and reported the fall. A high-altitude helicopter from Denali National Park and Preserve responded and took A.R. to be treated for his injuries in the town of Talkeetna.
After A.R. was off the mountain, the court documents say, Lance used the communications device to send this message to the manufacturer’s emergency response center: “No injuries. Stuck without equipment after climber fall. Request assisst [sic] for evac.” The center advised him to contact Denali park rangers.
The park’s rescue team told him he should “rope up and begin descending.” He responded by saying they could not safely descend. The rangers told him the helicopter was no longer flying that night and the climbers’ only option was to descend.
Lance responded again: “Cant descend safely. Patients in shock. Early hypothermia. Cant you land east of pass?”
On the report of the medical emergency, the helicopter was sent out again — but the crew turned around when guides at the nearby high base camp reported that the three climbers were descending on their own.
In later interviews, Lance’s two companions said neither of them were suffering from medical shock or hypothermia at any time.
They said they spent hours trying to persuade Lance to descend with them to the high base camp, at 17,200 feet.
Lance insisted they stay put, and said that the National Park Service was obligated to rescue them because “we’ve paid our fee,” according to court documents. A Denali mountaineering permit costs $375.
The other climbers finally persuaded him to descend, which they did without incident.
Denali Mountaineering Ranger Chris Erickson talked with Lance at base camp the next day and in a follow-up interview on May 26. He told Lance the other climbers in the party denied suffering from shock or hypothermia. Lance responded he was a licensed and trained physician and didn’t need to be lectured on the signs of hypothermia, the court documents say.
Lance initially refused to hand over A.R.’s satellite communication device at the base camp. Before he finally agreed to give it to Erickson, he took the device and disappeared inside a tent for up to five minutes, the documents say.
When he initially received the device, Erickson said, it contained multiple messages Lance sent to park officials, claiming medical necessity for a transport. It was determined, however, that though Lance had been ordered not to delete messages, some of the communications with the manufacturer’s emergency center were missing. A search warrant served on the manufacturer recovered those messages, including Lance’s proclamation that there were no injuries and they simply lacked the proper equipment to descend, court documents say.Lance faces three counts, interfering with and violating the order of a government employee and filing a false report.
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