Bodies of 2 climbers recovered from Glacier peak
A storm approaches Wild Goose Island in Glacier National Park Wednesday, June 29. Dusty Star Mountain is seen above and left of the island. (Jeremy Weber/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier National Park has released the names of the two local men killed in a climbing accident on Dusty Star Mountain this week.
The mountaineers were 67-year-old Brian McKenzie Kennedy from Columbia Falls, and 67-year-old Jack Dewayne Beard from Kalispell.
According to park staff who knew the men personally, Kennedy and Beard were considered expert climbers and have ascended mountain peaks in Glacier National Park for decades. Both men were longtime members of the Glacier Mountaineering Society and were well known in the Flathead Valley community, park officials said in a press release.
Kennedy is a former owner and editor of the Hungry Horse News in Columbia Falls.
The men were climbing Dusty Star Mountain in the St. Mary area and initiated the trip on July 21 with the plan to hike out July 22. They were reported missing on July 24 and park rangers located their vehicle at the trailhead on the same day.
An air search began on July 24 in the Dusty Star Mountain area on the east side route of approach. Two Bear Air flew on July 24 in daylight and darkness. Minuteman Aviation took over the air search with NPS spotters on board on the morning of July 25 and located the bodies of the climbers. The bodies were recovered on the same day by Two Bear Air.