Park worker describes rock slide

Bigfork resident Mike Vinson was just 30 feet away from the rock and mud slide that closed a portion of Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road on July 17. A sudden rainstorm dropped an inch and a half of rain in 30 minutes that afternoon when the slide occurred.

“I’ve been working up there for five years, and this is the first I have seen anything this bad,” Vinson said. “I knew I was in a fairly safe spot, so I wasn’t too worried about myself.”

One vehicle was heavily damaged by falling rock. Vinson said he saw both passengers escape out of the passenger side door and run for safety They had minor injuries and were treated at the scene. The vehicle had to be towed out of the debris

Vinson estimated about eight to 10 vehicles were present when the rock and mud slide occurred.

“The two guys behind me just about got hit by a big rock — it would have killed him,” Vinson said. “It bounced right over him, and they got out of the way not even two minutes before it really cut loose.”

Park officials estimated about 800 to 900 cubic yards of material remained on the Sun Road near Big Bend the next day. The road was closed until 2:30 p.m. on Thursday.

“The material was coming down from a thousand feet up in some spots,” Vinson said. “But it’s as secure as it’s going to be now because it’s washed out, but that’s just up to Mother Nature.”