Famed Climber kills himself after girlfriend’s avalanche death

Thursday, Oct 12, 2017 7:35 PM

The Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center Searchers probe the lower portion of an avalanche debris field for a missing skier on Imp Peak in the southern Madison Range in southwestern Montana.

The Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center The body of Inge Perkins was recovered after two skiers triggered the weekend avalanche that fully buried Perkins and partially buried renowned mountaineer Hayden Kennedy.

The Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center After losing his girlfriend in the avalanche, Hayden Kennedy “chose to end his life” the following day, his family said Tuesday.

Just two weeks before renowned climber Hayden Kennedy killed himself following the death of his girlfriend in an avalanche in Montana, he wrote on a climbing blog that he had watched too many friends die in the mountains over the last few years.

Kennedy wrote on the “Evening Sends” blog that it’s the painful reality of the sport and that “climbing is either a beautiful gift or a curse.”

Gallatin County sheriff’s officials say the 27-year-old and his 23-year-old girlfriend, Inge Perkins, were skiing on Imp Peak on Saturday when they triggered an avalanche in a steep, narrow gulley.

Perkins was buried by the 150-foot-wide slide, and Kennedy hiked out for help after he couldn’t find her.

Kennedy was found dead in a home Sunday as search teams prepared to recover Perkins’ body.