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Minnesota Man Dies in Montana Climbing Accident

Experienced climber slipped and fell while trying to summit Montana's highest mountain peak

By Associated Press

BILLINGS — A 65-year-old Minnesota man has died while trying to summit Montana’s highest mountain peak.

Park County officials say the experienced climber slipped and fell about 150 feet (46 meters) Saturday afternoon when he and a climbing partner were about 200 feet (61 meters) from the summit of Granite Peak in the Beartooth Mountains north of Yellowstone National Park.

Sheriff Brad Bichler tells The Billings Gazette the man’s climbing partner called Park County dispatchers at 2 a.m. Sunday, after climbing down from the 12,799-foot (3,901-meter) peak to get to an area with cellphone service.

Bichler says bad weather was delaying Monday’s effort to recover the man’s body.

The name of the man was being withheld until family members could be notified.