Climber plunges to his death on Idaho peak, rescuers say. ‘Always had a warm smile’
A missing 36-year-old rock climber was found dead days after he fell hundreds of feet from a jagged mountain in northern Idaho, rescuers said.
Christian Kreiger, of Samuels, was reported missing at about 6:40 p.m. July 12 from the Harrison Peak area, the Boundary County Emergency Management said in a July 17 Facebook post.
Rescuers set out to search for Kreiger at about 9:30 p.m. that night, officials said.
As they began looking for him, another person was reported missing from the same area, Heidi Vanderzee, the rescue team said.
Teams split up to find both Kreiger and Vanderzee.
Vanderzee was found in “in good physical condition” at 2:14 a.m. July 13, officials said, but the climber was nowhere to be found.
Helicopters scanned the area as rescuers searched by foot.
Kreiger was found dead two days after going missing, officials said. It appeared he died from injuries from the fall.
His body was removed from the rugged terrain later that day, rescuers said.
“Anyone who was blessed with the opportunity of knowing Christian knew that he was kind, friendly, always had a warm smile, he was very very creative and he loved the outdoors,” Darla Dalton wrote on Facebook.
“BSDRT would like to remind everyone to never recreate in the backcountry alone, stay with the group you went with, and always let someone know where you plan to go and when you’ll be back,” officials said.
Harrison Peak is in a remote area overlooking an alpine lake, according to SummitPost.
The mountain is about a 120-mile drive northeast from Spokane, Washington.
This story was originally published July 18, 2024 at 3:04 PM with the headline "Climber plunges to his death on Idaho peak, rescuers say. ‘Always had a warm smile’."
