Archived Story

Two die after fall on St. Mary Peak
By PERRY BACKUS of the Ravalli Republic

STEVENSVILLE - Two Missoula hikers died after falling down a cliff on St. Mary Peak in the Bitterroot Mountains on Saturday.

Faced with extremely rugged terrain and high winds aloft, it took searchers more than eight and a half hours to locate the man and woman killed in the accident, Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman said Sunday.

The 29-year-old man called 9-1-1 at about 1:50 p.m. Saturday to report that he and his 42-year-old hiking partner, Lisa Jones, had fallen off the cliff on the side of the popular hiking destination.

The man told the 9-1-1 operator the woman was unconscious, but still breathing, Hoffman said. The man said he'd suffered broken bones and was relatively sure he had some internal injuries as well.

The searchers used a GPS signal from the cell phone to get an approximate location of the pair, but neither Ravalli County Search and Rescue volunteers nor several different helicopters could get a visual because of high winds in the late afternoon, Hoffman said.

A Life Flight helicopter crew using night vision equipment spotted the LED light flashing on the man's cell phone after 10 p.m. By the time searchers were guided into their location, both hikers were dead.

“They had ground searchers working their way into the area when the helicopter crew spotted the LED light,” Hoffman said. “The LED light would show up extremely bright to anyone using night vision goggles. Life Flight guided them in.”

The bodies were recovered at about 9 a.m. Sunday by a team that left the trailhead at close to 1 a.m., Hoffman said.

The bodies were located at about the 8,500-foot level on the side of the 9,300-foot peak.

Temperatures dipped down into the 30s on the Bitterroot Valley floor Saturday night. At 8,500 feet, Hoffman believed temperatures probably dropped into the low 20s.

Besides Ravalli County Search and Rescue, Hoffman said the rescue effort was assisted by members of the Stevensville ambulance and fire department, Victor Quick Response Unit and helicopters from Life Flight, Care Flight, Connor R&R Aviation and Malmstrom Air Force Base.
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)
Current Word Count:
   

Denice wrote on Dec 8, 2008 2:55 PM:

" The man that fell at St Mary's Peak is Max Haldeman. He loved the wilderness, expecially the Bitterroot Mountains. The fall was a terrible accident in which he never gave up trying to get help for Lisa and himself. He will be rembembered by his family for his kindness and his courage. We want to thank all the people who assisted in the rescure and retrieval. We will forever appreciate the dedication of all invloved. The Haldeman Family "

|

Subscribe to the Missoulian today — get 2 weeks free!