Park officials advise hikers to stay on posted trails in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and throughout Yellowstone National Park. (Ruffin Prevost/Yellowstone Gate - click to enlarge)
UPDATE: 11:57 Monday, June 11
The National Park Service has released the name of a woman who died June 7 while hiking in Yellowstone National Park.
Maria “Masha” Sergeyevna Rumyantseva, 18, of Kaliningrad, Russia was hiking with three friends near Inspiration Point in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone when she ventured off trail onto a rock ledge, which broke loose underneath her.
The accident remains under investigation.
From Staff Reports
Authorities have not yet released the name of an 18-year-old woman who died Thursday in an accidental fall near Inspiration Point in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
The woman, a Yellowstone concession employee on her first day in the park, was hiking the canyon’s North Rim Trail with three other acquaintances when she ventured out off trail onto a loose rock promontory, which quickly gave way underneath her, according to a statement released by the Yellowstone National Park public affairs office. Her identity is being withheld until next of kin can be notified.
Yellowstone Rangers responded to a 911 cell phone call received at 5:44 p.m. Thursday, reporting that a woman had fallen into the canyon. Rangers with the assistance of ground spotters and a Teton Interagency helicopter observed the woman’s body resting approximately 400 feet down the canyon wall. They concluded that she had sustained non-survivable injuries.
The body was successfully recovered from the canyon by short-haul helicopter operation at approximately noon today.
Park officials remind visitors that hiking close to canyon rims in the park is extremely dangerous, and that hikers should stay on posted, designated canyon rim trails due to the instability of loose dirt and rock near ledges.
Contact Yellowstone Gate at 307-213-9818 or info@yellowstonegate.com.