Montana News Roundup: Big Crowds Back at Glacier

Statistics are still running behind at Glacier National Park again this year. But the most recent report indicates park traffic is running ahead of last year's pace and could be heading at least close to record territory in 2025.

Through May, Glacier's year-to-date traffic was up 12%, topping more than. 346,000 visitors just ahead of opening for traffic on the popular Going-to-the-Sun Road. That's ahead of 308,000 visitors at the same point last year.

It's a stat to watch, since many park supporters have feared how federal policies, from spending cuts to tariffs, could impact traffic, especially from foreign travelers.

Traffic was up at the West Glacier entrance, had doubled at Two Medicine, and the Walton/Goat Lick entrance south of Waterton.

RELATED: How Much Will Foreign Visitors Pay to See Glacier?

     But visits to Polebridge, and Many Glacier, where construction has closed some facilities, were down.

Great Falls air travel is booming

While Bozeman, Billings, and Missoula airports are getting most of the attention for passenger increases, Great Falls International Airport set a brand new record for the just-completed fiscal year, with more than 387,000 passengers through June.

The airport also announced last week that United Airlines is expanding their larger Airbus flights into November, and possibly the holidays.

     Even with Delta suspending its Minneapolis route in September, the larger jets means capacity is still 10% higher for the coming fall than before the pandemic.

Great Falls police investigate early morning shooting

Great Falls Police are warning their Facebook followers not to share information about this weekend's shooting incident because it could hinder the investigation.

Police have said one person was killed in the shooting, which happened around 2:30 Sunday morning in the Albertsons-Target parking lot along 10th Avenue South.

     Investigators are still working the case, but have said the victim died at the scene where there were several people at the time of the shooting.

Hot, but firefighters keep a handle on Montana blazes

It was another weekend of fire starts across Montana, with Montana DNRC reporting 15 new fires through Sunday evening, and a total of 55-acre fires across the state. That included several smaller fires between Crow Agency and Hardin, and small fires south of Bozeman, in Meagher County, and east of Wold Point.

Crews are making headway on the two largest fires on the map now. The Green Mountain and Garnet fires east of Missoula remaining active, but firefighters were reporting 20% containment Sunday evening. They're working on mop up and fire lines with winds increasing fire activity. Aerial drops are also being used.

      BLM has closed some roads in the area, but there are no evacuations.

Utah man identified as victim of Glacier fall

Glacier National Park authorities have identified the climber who fell to his death last week as 42-year-old Brian Astle of Provo, Utah. Rangers say Astle was coming down a steep, off-trail climbing route on the west face of Mount Gould, above the Garden Wall, when he fell.

Two more summer deaths on Montana roads

Montana Highway Patrol troopers say it was a combination of speeding and drugs that led to a crash that killed a 47-year-old Pryor man early Sunday morning. Troopers say the victim went over the centerline on Pryor Gap Road, overcorrecting off the side of the road, and then running into a tree and a fence when he couldn't make it around a curve.

A 52-year-old Popular man was killed late Saturday night when he was hit by an SUV that was trying to pass another car as he was walking along U-S 2 near Wolf Point. MHP says he died at the scene. The 46-year-old Billings woman who was driving the truck wasn't injured.

Perfect Big Dipper birthday weather

The weekend weather was certainly hot enough for ice cream. But fans of Missoula's Big Dipper Ice Cream needed no excuse to get together and celebrate the brand's 30th birthday with a new "Birthday Cake" flavor and an ice cream eating contest.

      30 years ago, the business started by making custom ice cream out of the back of the old Kettlehouse, going on to a famous stand on Higgins that can draw hundreds of people on a summer night, national recognition, a second Missoula location, and additional operations in Helena, Great Falls, and Billings.