A New Jersey man has become the third person to die trying to summit Alaska’s Denali Mountains this past year, according to CBS News.
Fernando Birman, 48, of Stockton, New Jersey, died Friday evening at an elevation of 19,700 feet while on an attempt to reach the top of the 20,310-foot peak, the National Park Service said.
Birman was just over 600 feet shy of the peak, NBC News reported.
The park service added Birman collapsed and his guides initiated CPR but he never regained his pulse.
Birman was part of a 12-member guided tour that began their ascent on May 22, said Sharon Stiteler, a spokesperson for Denali National Park, in a statement obtained by CBS News.
The park statement said despite the cause of death being as of yet unknown, the medical examiner said it was consistent with sudden cardiac arrest.
The Denali Mountains are North America’s tallest peak and three people within the last year, including Birman, have died trying to climb to the summit.
There have been 129 climbing deaths at the park since 1932, CBS News reported.