Lodge employee injured on Mt. Stanton

A Georgia man was airlifted off Mount Stanton in Glacier National Park late Tuesday afternoon after he fell over a 30-foot cliff. He was not seriously injured, and according to a Kalispell Regional Medical Center spokesperson, the man was never admitted to the hospital.

Andrew Wilkerson, 24, of Oakwood, had finished summitting the 7,750-foot peak at the head of Lake McDonald and was glissading down the south face with three other companions when he was unable to stop by self-arresting on the snow with his ice ax.

Wilkerson tumbled over a 30-foot cliff and then slid 80 more feet down a snowfield before coming to rest.

A male friend stayed with Wilkerson while two female friends went down the mountain to get help. Wilkerson and his friends were employees at Lake McDonald Lodge.

When Park rangers received the report, incident commander Patrick Suddath requested the ALERT Helicopter, which located the man and his friend.

The helicopter dropped off a medic at the scene and then picked up the injured man and his friend and transported them to Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

Mount Stanton is considered a relatively simple climb in the summer months when there is no snow, but with the wet, cold spring, about two-thirds of the mountain is snow covered.

Climbers who choose to descend the snow by glissading - either by standing or sitting and then sliding - risk losing control even if they have an ice ax for braking or stopping.