Glacier National Park Rockfall Kills 72-Year-Old Driver, First Fatality Since 2019
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 27
Glacier National Park Rockfall Kills 72-Year-Old Driver, First Fatality Since 2019
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 27
Summary
Rex Schowengerdt, 72, of Missouri, died July 16 after a rockfall struck his vehicle on July 11 while he was driving Glacier National Park’s 50-mile Going-to-the-Sun Road.
A rock dislodged from a cliff face, punched through the roof of his vehicle and caused injuries the Flathead County Coroner’s Office ruled accidental.
Park officials said such deaths are rare, with the last fatal visitor rockfall in Glacier occurring in 2019, when a 14-year-old girl from Utah was killed.
Heavy rainfall and flooding had closed parts of the road late last month before it reopened June 30; the Park Service has warned that saturated slopes can trigger rockfalls and washouts.