Retired doctor was victim of Glacier fall

The Daily Inter Lake

Retired Dr. William H. Labunetz has been identified as the Great Falls hiker who fell to his death Saturday afternoon while climbing along the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park.

Labunetz, a neurologist for about 25 years with the Great Falls Clinic and an avid mountaineer, was 67.

The Great Falls Tribune reported that the retired physician had been hiking with his son, Chris, 38, and a group of friends when he fell about 300 feet as he descended from Ahern Pass about 2 p.m.

Glacier National Park officials said Sunday that Labunetz and four others had climbed up to Iceberg Notch earlier in the day. Two of them broke off and the remaining three - including Labunetz - planned to use goat trails to climb down to Ptarmigan Tunnel, then return to Many Glacier Campground where they were staying.

The Tribune's story quoted Jim Heckel, a family friend who was hiking with Labunetz. Heckel said he, Chris and William Labunetz were heading down while the other two followed a high route.

Dr. Labunetz had climbed the Ahern Pass route before and separated from the other two to take that route again. Heckel told the Tribune that he and Chris decided to hike back to the main trail because they were having trouble finding the route. They didn't know exactly where Labunetz went, Heckel said.

Back on the main trail, the pair questioned approaching hikers and discovered they had seen an accident.

A park employee was one of several people who witnessed Labunetz's fall, although it was unclear whether the employee was among the group Heckel and Chris Labunetz questioned.

That employee made his way to Labunetz after sending the rest of the party on to Granite Park Chalet for help. While climbing to the spot where Labunetz fell, the employee spotted another park employee and yelled to him for help.

Park officials said when the two employees reached Labunetz they found he had died of major injuries from the fall. The first employee stayed there while the second one hiked out. On the way he encountered Heckel and Chris Labunetz and told them of the fall.

They then climbed up to Labunetz, where they stayed along with the first park employee.

It was difficult terrain, so it took crews a long time to recover the body and take the remaining hikers out of the area, Heckel said. A helicopter from Minuteman Aviation in West Glacier airlifted everyone from the scene.

The Tribune quoted another longtime friend of Labunetz, Tom Kotynski, an experienced hiker who had climbed with Labunetz for the last 20 years. Kotynski said Labunetz was "certainly up to that kind of hike. He studied his maps very carefully and planned his trips very carefully."

Labunetz is survived by his wife, Gerri, and their three children: Chris, Mike and Jenni.