Nebraska woman arrested for climbing Mt. Rushmore

KEYSTONE, S.D. — A Nebraskan tourist found herself in Pennington County jail Friday evening after climbing Mt. Rushmore.

Alexandria Incontro, 30, of Omaha, faced multiple tickets, all in Federal Court. Her tickets include climbing Mt. Rushmore, violating a closure or public use limit, trespassing on property not open to the public, and failure to obey a lawful order.

Around 7 p.m. Friday, park rangers were notified of a person climbing the talus slope past the tree line and below the Mt. Rushmore sculpture. According to rangers, a person must pass over a railing and past several “orange closed” signs to climb the slope.

Rangers contacted the woman climbing and told her to come down. According to court documents, the woman responded with “something like, ‘Do you want me to come down fast or slow?'” as she continued to climb.

Park rangers decided to climb the slope to apprehend Incontro and “observed her between the likeness of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.” Rangers say she free climbed onto the sculpture, roughly 15 feet from the top.

Officials persuaded Incontro to descend to “the chins” to meet the park rangers as Keystone Ambulance staged nearby. After descending to the base of the mountain, Incontro was arrested. She was examined by ambulance for scrapes to her legs and arms from falling during the climb and from climbing barefoot.

According to the law enforcement report, Incontro was visiting the area with 19 family members, including her 3 and 7-year-old children.

Incontro appeared in Federal court Monday afternoon before Hon. Daneta Wollmann. Incontro pleaded guilty to climbing Mt. Rushmore.

According to court minutes, Wollmann imposed a $1,000 fine and $30 process fee and dismissed Incontro’s remaining tickets.