Grand Teton rangers conduct mountain rescue after several climbing parties caught in storm

Storm strikes Grand Teton climbers

GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — Rangers in Grand Teton National Park are using helicopters to rescue 13 people injured in a high-altitude lightning storm.

Park spokeswoman Jackie Skaggs says rescuers used two ‘choppers to retrieve five climbers Wednesday afternoon and were trying to reach eight others.

Skaggs doesn’t know the details of their injuries but says the first two brought down weren’t serious.

The storm struck around noon Wednesday. The climbers were above 12,000 feet on 13,770-foot Grand Teton mountain. Three separate climbing parties reported injuries.

Earlier Wednesday, rangers retrieved the body of a woman who died on a nearby mountain. Skaggs didn’t have any information on the death.