Four Japanese climbers are feared dead on the western face of Mt McKinley after an 800 foot slide swept them from their feet at about the 11,800 foot level of the mountain and buried them.

Only one of the five climbers survived the ordeal. Hitoshi Ogi was the last of the five climbers tethered to a single line. When the avalanche occurred at 2 am on Thrusday, Ogi was separated from the others when the tether snapped and he was swept 60 feet into a crevasse.

The four missing climbers are identified as Yoshiaki Kato, 64; Masako Suda, 50; Michiko Suzuki, 56; and Tamao Suzuki, 63.

After the event, the 69-year-old Ogi climbed from the fault and looked around for his companions. Not finding them, Ogi trekked 14 hours back to base camp at the 7,200 foot level.

Ogi, his right hand frost-bitten, was flown from there to the Talkeetna Ranger Station where, with the help of an interpreter, he gave his account of the incident.

“He couldn’t remember all the details,” said Maureen McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the national park, “but he had a pretty good recollection of what he thought had happened.”

Snow and wind hampered search efforts on Saturday. But, during the search, NPS Mountaineering Ranger Tucker Chenoweth climbed down the crevasse that Obi fell into and probed 30 meters down and located a broken end of rope. The area was very compacted snow debris and ice. The conditions in the crevasse were considered to dangerous because of possible ice fall and so further search efforts have come to a close.

The five member climbing team were from the Miyagi Workers Alpine Federation.

This latest incident has now raised the death toll this season to six on the 20,320 foot mountain.

There are still 395 climbers on the mountain as of yesterday according to Park Service records.