CHEYENNE — Rescue workers on Thursday found the body of a missing climber who fell from a cliff when a thunderstorm struck his climbing party on an exposed mountainside in Grand Teton National Park.
Searchers using a helicopter found the body of 21-year-old Brandon Oldenkamp, of Sanborn, Iowa, in an area off the northwest face of Grand Teton mountain, park officials said. Rescue workers recovered his body in the early afternoon and brought it to the Teton County coroner, a park spokeswoman said.
Oldenkamp, who was climbing with six other people, fell about 2,000 feet during the midday storm Wednesday, according to park officials. Authorities don’t know whether he died from a lightning strike or the fall.
“His climbing party simply reported to us that when the lightning hit, they looked back and saw him falling away and out of sight,” said park spokeswoman Jackie Skaggs.
“We’ll be able to analyze his climbing harness and rope and come up with a possible reason for his fall,” she said, “but at this point, our understanding was it was related to the storm and not related to anything Mr. Oldenkamp had done.”
A severe thunderstorm moved across the Teton Range on Wednesday, unleashing multiple lightning strikes on the 13,770-foot Grand Teton mountain. Three climbing parties at elevations above 13,000 feet called for help.
The 16 surviving climbers suffered moderate or severe injuries from indirect electrical charges radiating from the lightning, according to park officials. The injuries included burns and varying levels of neurological problems such as numbness.
Rangers reached seven of the climbers by climbing to them and then hooked them to cables so they could be flown to an aid station, Skaggs said.
Two of the climbers were able to descend to the station on their own, and the remaining climbers were reached by professional guides, who escorted them down to the aid station, Skaggs said.
