BASE jumper killed on Siyeh's north face
<p>This is the second case of base jumper not successfully leaping from the 4,000-foot high north face of Mount Siyeh.</p>
Glacier National Park officials report that the body of a 22-year-old-man from Missoula was recovered from the north side of Mount Siyeh on Sunday night, Sept. 14, around 7 p.m.
The initial investigation indicates that Beau Weiher attempted to BASE jump off an area of Mount Siyeh. In BASE jumping, participants jump from fixed objects and use a parachute to break their fall. BASE jumping is prohibited in most National Park Service sites, including Glacier Park.
According to Park officials, Weiher’s family reported to Park dispatch that he was overdue from a solo day hike in the Many Glacier area on Saturday night about 8 p.m.
Information from Weiher’s family and friends indicated that Weiher was headed to the Piegan Pass and Mount Siyeh area and may intend to do a BASE jump.
Park rangers initiated a ground and aerial search early Sunday morning. They found tracks that suggested Weiher might have been in the area below the summit of Mount Siyeh.
Personnel on board the Two Bear Air Helicopter spotted what they believed to be a parachute at about 6 p.m. Weiher’s body was found about an hour later below Mount Siyeh’s summit.
His body was recovered and transported to the Many Glacier area via the Two Bear Helicopter. The Glacier County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the death and identified Weiher.
Cooperating agencies that assisted with the incident also included the Flathead County and Glacier County sheriff’s offices.
This is not the first incident of a BASE jumper leaping from Mount Siyeh’s 4,000-foot vertical north face. A jumper in 1997 only made it 300 feet down before his parachute got hung up on rocks.
Park ranger Charlie Logan flew up to the site by helicopter with several other rangers and then rappelled down to the jumper and rescued him.
“We were home for dinner by 8:15 p.m.,” Logan recalled. “That guy was really lucky.”