Three mountain climbers — two from the U.S. and one from Canada — missing for five days on Aoraki, New Zealand's tallest peak, are believed to have died in a fall, the authorities said Friday.

A National Geographic team found the boot and foot of whom it suspects to be Andrew "Sandy" Irvine, a 22-year-old climber who went missing on Mount Everest a century ago.

Outdoor groups and state and local officials in northern parts of the northeastern US worry that a surge of eclipse-watchers could overwhelm backcountry first responders.

NPR correspondent Brian Mann dreamed for nearly 40 years of climbing in North Africa's highest mountains. This winter, he finally got the chance.

Against a backdrop of another deadly climbing season on Mount Everest, NPR's Scott Simon contemplates one story of sacrifice and heroism.