A man who was injured after being struck in a rockfall while driving through Glacier National Park in Montana this month died at a hospital on July 16, the first such fatality in the park since 2019, officials said.
The Flathead County Coroner’s Office said on Monday that the man, Rex Schowengerdt, 72, of Missouri, had been driving on July 11 through Going-to-the-Sun Road, a 50-mile route in the park that attracts many visitors.
A rock had gone through the roof of his vehicle after becoming dislodged from a cliff face. The cause of death was ruled accidental, the coroner’s office said in a statement.
The office added that it worked with Glacier National Park and other agencies “during these investigations to ensure a thorough and coordinated response since occurrences like this are uncommon.”
Parts of the route had been closed at the end of last month because of flooding caused by heavy rainfall, the National Park Service said in a statement, and had reopened on June 30.
Downpours can contribute to landslides, as saturation can weaken rocks on slopes.
“With rainfall and flooding, rockfalls and washouts may occur, creating dangerous conditions,” according to a statement posted last month on the Glacier National Park’s Facebook page.
Since its construction in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Going-to-the-Sun Road has become one of the park’s most popular areas to visit, according to the Park Service. The route features views of glacier-carved peaks, alpine lakes and forests.
Fatal rockfalls involving visitors to Glacier National Park are rare, the Park Service said.
The most recent episode, in 2019, involved a 14-year-old girl from Utah who died after rocks hit the top of a vehicle she was in, shattering the windshield. Four other people in the car were injured, the service said.
Before that, in 1996, a 30-year-old student from Japan was killed when rocks crushed part of his rental car, and his wife was injured.
Johnny Diaz contributed reporting.
