Backcountry skier dies after long fall in Wyoming mountains

Backcountry skier dies after long fall in Wyoming mountains

Published Jun. 26, 2017 10:58 a.m. ET

CODY, Wyo. (AP) A 19-year-old man has died after falling 2,000 feet (610 meters) while backcountry skiing with his sister in the Beartooth Mountains in northern Wyoming.

The Park County Sheriff's Department says Benjamin Fern Tesseneer of Bozeman, Montana, died in the accident Saturday.

Authorities say Tesseneer and his sister were climbing a steep, rocky chute near Glacier Lake just south of the Wyoming-Montana border when Tesseneer fell.

His sister had stopped about 1,000 feet (305 meters) up the chute while Tesseneer continued to climb another 1,000 feet (305 meters) before he fell.

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Tesseneer died from apparent head and chest trauma. He was not wearing a helmet.

Backcountry skiing is common in the Beartooth Mountains, where snow still remains high up on the mountains.

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