  We report on the c-axis resistivity rho_c(H) in Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+\delta}
that peaks in quasi-static magnetic fields up to 60 T. By suppressing the
Josephson part of the two-channel (Cooper pair/quasiparticle) conductivity
\sigma_c (H), we find that the negative slope of \rho_c(H) above the peak is
due to quasiparticle tunneling conductivity \sigma_q(H) across the CuO_2 layers
below H_{c2}. At high fields (a) \sigma_q(H) grows linearly with H, and (b)
\rho_c(T) tends to saturate (sigma_c \neq 0) as T->0, consistent with the
scattering at the nodes of the d-gap. A superlinear sigma_q(H) marks the normal
state above T_c.
