Three Anchorage-area brothers have died on Alaska's 17,400-foot Mount Foraker.

The bodies, still roped together, of Kevin Strawn, 27, Travis Strawn, 21, and Colby Strawn, 15, were found at approximately 4:40 p.m. Monday on a slope at 8,500 feet. The cause of the accident has not been determined.

The Anchorage Daily News reported the three had planned to climb Denali after Foraker and that a fourth brother and a friend were to have been on the trip.

Contact was last made with the three on June 13 and although the climbers were not overdue, a pilot with the group's air taxi flew over the route on June 16 and noticed evidence of avalanche activity.

On June 17, base camp personnel, concerned about the climbers, notified National Park Service staff at the Talkeetna Ranger Station. At 3:30 p.m., the park service reported, it dispatched a Lama helicopter with two park service rangers to search for the climbers.

The rangers found tracks near the 10,500-foot elevation before finding the bodies, which were recovered from the mountain on Monday night.

Mount Foraker is the second highest summit of the Alaska Range and the sixth highest in North America. Located 15 miles southwest of 20,320-foot Denali (Mount McKinley), North America's highest peak. Most of the mountain lies within Denali National Park and is accessed by the Kahiltna Glacier, which is also the starting point for Denali West Buttress climbs.

— MountainZone.com Staff