Pole Dies on Mt. McKinley

DENALI NATIONAL PARK, Alaska — A Polish mountain climber fell to his death as he descended the summit of 20,320-foot Mt. McKinley, North America’s tallest mountain, the National Park Service reported today.

Piotr Jankowiak, 35, of Gdansk had reached the summit with his climbing partner and was glissading, or sliding, down the mountain Friday at about the 17,300-foot level when he hit a patch of hard snow and lost control, plunging to his death, the service said.