Rangers Rappel Steep Embankment to Rescue Visitors After Car Plummets Off Going-to-the-Sun Road, MT

Park Rangers had to rappel down and rescue the three occupants of a car that plunged 40-feet off the side of Glacier National Park’s scenic Going-to-the-Sun Road on Monday. The vehicle had swerved to avoid another car that had stopped in the roadway to watch a bear.

• Related: VIDEO: Avalanche in Glacier National Park, MT Traps Cyclists on Going-to-the-Sun Road for Hours

The park responded around 5 pm to reports of a vehicle down an embankment near Packer’s Roost, several miles below the Loop, according to park officials. Park rangers performed a technical rescue for the people in the car. Park sawyers cut down a number of trees so a tow truck could remove the vehicle.

The three occupants were transported to the hospital, two by ambulance and one by ALERT helicopter.

The rescue effort resulted in traffic jams in both directions for more than three hours and created a line of waiting cars five miles long. Hundreds of vehicles and multiple shuttle buses were delayed along Going-to-the-Sun Road during the crash response.