Missing Teton Climber Found Dead, Others Recovering In Area Hospitals

Rangers in Grand Teton National Park were able to rescue 16 injured climbers who were caught in a lightning storm on Wednesday afternoon. They suffered severe injuries from indirect electrical charges radiating from the lightning. The climbers had reached elevations above 13,000 feet on the mountain.

Teton Interagency Dispatch Center received an initial cell phone call at 12:25 p.m. on Wednesday from one group. The dispatch center eventually received calls from two more groups requiring assistance.

The rescue operation involved a sequential evacuation of the 16 climbers. As weather conditions improved the aerial evacuation continued until all the injured persons were delivered to the valley floor. Waiting ambulances then transported them to St. John?s Medical Center.

Grand Teton Spokeswoman Jackie Skaggs confirms the seventeenth climber has been found dead by rescue crews.

Brandon Oldenkamp, of Sanborn, Iowa, was climbing on the Owen Spalding Trail when he fell 2,000 feet off a cliff. The 21-year-old was part of a group of eight climbers. His body was found off the Northwest Face of the Grand Teton below a feature called the Black Ice Couloir.

Currently, there are three victims still in St. John’s Hospital and one at EIRMC.

Emergency room doctors told Local News 8 all the climbers were in stable condition Wednesday night. They had varying degrees of lightning burns. The doctors said some of the climbers were struck multiple times. Some were thrown when they were hit.

Also, another victim was transported by helicopter from St. John’s Hospital in Jackson to EIRMC on Wednesday night.

Climbers ranged in age from 20s-60s and were mostly men.

Rescuers were hanging from ropes to reach the climbers. They had to put each climber onto a ledge, which was flown to a flat area of the mountain, before the climber was put into the helicopter to get to the hospital.

Two helicopters assisted in the rescue while other agencies assisted the rangers.