EBS STAFF
On Nov. 25 at 3:19 p.m., Gallatin Co. 911 received a call from a GPS device monitoring service, according to a Nov. 27 release from the Gallatin County Sheriff’s and Coroner’s office.The GPS monitoring service had been activated near Grotto Falls in Hyalite Canyon.
Later, the Gallatin County dispatch received a 911 phone call from an eyewitness stating that an ice climber had fallen and was injured. The patient was identified as 36-year-old Kyle Allen Rott.
Volunteers from the Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue with Two Bear Air Rescue and Billings Clinic MedFlight helicopters responded to Grotto Falls trailhead. Five teams of search and rescue volunteers reported to the area where Rott was located.
The teams provided medical treatment to Rott and eventually hoisted him by Two Bear Air and brought him to Bozeman Health Deaconess Regional Medical Center. Rott later succumbed to his injuries.
The Coroner’s office coroners determined that Rott died accidentally caused by blunt force trauma to the head during the ice climbing fall.
“Sheriff Dan Springer would like to express his condolences to Mr. Kyle Rott’s family in South Dakota and his friends,” the release stated. Sheriff Springer also thanked the teams who responded quickly to the call.