19-Year-Old Dies from Injuries in Montana Mountain Fall

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — A 19-year-old South Dakota man who fell while climbing Montana's highest mountain peak earlier this month has died from his injuries.

The Rapid City Journal reports that Thomas Craig Pfeifle died at a hospital Monday.

Pfeifle had fallen 20 to 30 feet while climbing near the summit of the 12,800-foot Granite Peak on Aug. 8.

The Rapid City man had been rescued by helicopter and flown to a Billings hospital, where he was treated for a head injury. He was then transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he died Monday.

A medical examiner says Pfeifle's official cause of death has not yet been determined.

Pfiefle is the son of South Dakota 7th Circuit Court judges Craig Pfeifle and Jane Wipf Pfeifle.