Man loses girlfriend in avalanche, then takes his own life

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The avalanche broke loose from Imp Peak, a rushing wall of snow — two feet high at the vertical crown and 150 feet across — slipping quickly along the older dense accumulation.

The hard slab slammed down into the gully on the mountain’s side, stretching for 300 feet over the dark rock outcroppings, burying two young backcountry skiers Saturday at 10,000 feet above sea level, six miles from the trail head and 20 miles southwest of Big Sky, Mont.

Hayden Kennedy, a 27-year-old world-class climber, fought his way out from the pileup. But he could not find his girlfriend, 23-year-old Inge Perkins.

A report released Tuesday by the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center says Kennedy searched, then trekked out of the area for help. On Monday, rescuers discovered Perkins’s body beneath three feet of snow.

But the tragedy unfortunately didn’t stop on the wind-ripped side of the Madison Range‘s fourth highest peak. On Sunday, as searchers were mustering to locate the missing skier, Kennedy took his own life.

This week, his father, Michael Kennedy, confirmed his son’s death.

“Hayden survived the avalanche but not the unbearable loss of his partner in life,” his father wrote on Facebook. “He chose to end his life. Myself and his mother Julie sorrowfully respect his decision.”

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