Hiker dies in Glacier

A hiker from Nebraska died Monday in a fall down a snowfield along the Grinnell Glacier Trail in Glacier National Park.

Nicholas Ryan, 30, of Omaha, Neb., was hiking with two friends in the Many Glacier Valley when he fell an estimated 280 feet down a steep snowfield along the trail just over a mile from the Grinnell Glacier.

The incident was reported to an interpretive ranger leading a hike on the same trail at about 11:50 a.m. Park rangers, ALERT helicopter from Kalispell Regional Medical Center and Minuteman Aviation soon after responded.

Medical personnel pronounced Ryan deceased at about 1:53 p.m. The park initially reported that Ryan suffered head injuries in the fall. The Glacier County Coroner is establishing the cause of death, and the National Park Service is investigating the incident.

Park officials remind hikers to use caution on higher elevation trails where there is still considerable snow. The popular Highline Trail, for instance, is not expected to be open for at least two weeks because of lingering snow, said Denise Germann, the park’s public affairs specialist.

Germann noted that there have been two other incidents in the park where people have been injured after falling on snowfields this year, but they did not require emergency personnel to respond.