Description: Every year a multitude of people venture out into the snow to go snowshoeing, skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling or climbing. Many are not fully informed of the dangers and the necessary risk management practices. This book sheds light on the fatalities that occurred last year and what went wrong in order to help others learn and improve their own margin of safety.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE On sale now ISBN: 979-8371006769 <a href="https://<a href='http://www.avalanche-center.org/book/' rel='nofollow'>www.avalanche-center.org/book/https://www.avalanche-center.org/book/
Fatal Avalanches in the US: 2021-2022 reviews in detail all of the fatal snow avalanches of the season. They are summarized collectively, each is described, and noteworthy factors are discussed. Finally, the common factors and problems behind these tragic events are discussed. This information is invaluable for helping skiers, snowboarders, snowmobilers, climbers, and others avoid such incidents in the future.
This 1st edition reviews the 17 avalanche fatalities between October 1, 2021 and September 30, 2022 in clear terms with simple and clear snowpack diagrams and no technical obfuscation. The focus is on understanding what went wrong and how risk management could have been improved.
“While it remains our right to venture forth into avalanche terrain it also remains our responsibility to manage our own risk, to our own acceptable level. Hopefully these experiences of others will contribute in some way to that. “ – James Frankenfield, Author
Fatal Avalanches in the US: 2021-2022: A Review of the Season’s Fatal Avalanches is a must-have book for anyone recreating outdoors in winter. It can be found both in Paperback and Kindle form on Amazon at <a href="https://<a href='http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQY4RNZV' rel='nofollow'>www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQY4RNZVhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQY4RNZV
ABOUT THE AUTHOR – James Frankenfield is a snow and avalanche professional with decades of experience as a skier/climber, snow scientist and engineer and mountain safety educator. He earned his M.Sc. in Physics in 1990 by studying seasonal snow and avalanches and has done scientific work in the field. In 1993 he started Avalanche-Center.org on USENET and a university gopher server and manages this project on the web to this day. He has climbed, soloed and guided alpine climbs throughout the western US, soloed a section of the Northville-Placid trail in winter in 1984, and has soloed multi-day glacier ski tours in the Alps. His website is snowman-jim.org
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CONTACT: The Avalanche Center (Avalanche-Center.org) 877-604-0166 snowavalanche-center.org
Was the Uttarkashi avalanche triggered by an earthquake a couple days earlier? A 2.5 magnitude earthquake jolted the region on October 2. Just two days before the deadly avalanche hit the group from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) at Draupadi ka Danda. Sixteen bodies were recovered by Thursday afternoon, fifteen were still reported missing.
The earthquake epicenter was not far from the Uttarkashi avalanche site. Experienced mountaineers as well as locals are now speculating that the earthquake may have triggered the avalanche.
According to National Center of Seismology the earthquake happened at around 10:43 am on October 2 with its epicentre in Bhatwari tehsil, Uttarkashi district. Significantly, the 25-km trek to Mount Draupadi ka Dana also lies in Bhatwari tehsil.
“Sometimes, even small tremors can cause cracks in the glaciers and the upper layer of snow could dislodge immediately after a small amount of pressure is exerted on it. In the past, we have seen earthquake-triggered-avalanches like the 2015 avalanche around the Mt Everest base camp,” said Love Raj Dharmshaktu, who has scaled Everest seven times.
The SE part of Uttarkashi district, including Bhatwari, falls under either zone IV or zone V of the seismic zone map. Senior geologist and executive director of Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority, Piyoosh Rautela, said that earthquakes do trigger avalanches and landslides.
He added: “A detailed investigation is needed to ascertain whether the October 2 quake, which was of low intensity, triggered the Uttarkashi avalanche on October 4.” Jayendra Rana, president of Uttarkashi trekking and mountaineering association, said, “Draupadi ka Danda is a safe peak and we have never heard of any major avalanche there. The October 4 incident occurred just two days after the quake. I think this angle should be explored.”
A brave dog, presumed dead in an avalanche, was found alive several days later at a trailhead.
An avalanche triggered by a skier in Colorado hit a skier and snowboarder on Thursday, and their dog.
The skier deployed an airbag before being partially buried under snow. However, they lost sight of their four-legged friend amidst the chaos.
Fortunately for the skier and snowboarder, they were uninjured and able to make it out under their own power.
After looking all over for the dog presumed dead in the avalanche, the owners and a search crew had basically given up hope.
They left the scene and assumed the dog had died in the avalanche.
Search and rescue members didn’t see any signs of tracks.
Miraculously, however, after several days of being missing, the dog was found at a trailhead of Monarch Pass.
The reunion was incredibly emotional.
This isn’t the first time a pet has been rescued after dire circumstances in the Colorado mountains this season.
In December a video posted on YouTube showed skiers digging out a dog who had been under snow for 20 minutes after an avalanche.
Despite the positive outcome this time, Lazar reaffirmed that the best course of action when caught in an avalanche was for riders to keep an eye on their pet and only attempt to save them once it’s safe to do so
“We don’t want dogs to wear avalanche transceivers. We want people to be searchable by transceivers and not mixable with potential dogs with transceivers on,” Lazar said.
That’s one story that this courageously good boy or girl will remember for the rest of their dog years.
Site where a dog presumed dead in an avalanche was buried.
It appears that Silverton Avalanche School was dropped from the lawsuit by the Marshall family, along with their guide. Neither party has commented so a settlement amount was most likely agreed on.
The family of Peter Marshall, who died in an avalanche during an AIARE advanced avalanche safety class with the Silverton Avalanche School, has dropped the school and teacher from their lawsuit. It appears that a settlement was reached. A complaint remains open against Backcountry Access, their owner K2 Sports, and K2 owner Kohlberg & Company.
Settlement Reached with Silverton Avalanche School?
Two years after the death Marshall’s wife and daughter sued San Juan Search and Rescue, the Silverton Avalanche School and the school’s guide, Zachary Lovell, in a wrongful death lawsuit. Last month the family dropped its claims against the county, school and guide. Attorneys for the Marshall family have not returned calls or responded to emails and representatives from the county and school declined to comment, indicating a settlement amount was most likely agreed upon.
The Fatal Avalanche Accident and the Allegations
The family had argued that the school and guide had misled Marshall into taking the class by “falsely presenting” that school staff “possessed deep operational experience in avalanche terrain.” The family also claimed the school and guide displayed gross negligence.
Marshall had been participating in the Silverton Avalanche School Level 2 American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE) class on Jan. 5, 2019. He was swept down a slope in an avalanche that caught five other skiers. Four were not buried. Another was buried but was able to extricate himself. When the skiers freed Marshall from the debris, he was not breathing.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) report pointed to several mistakes during the advanced class, including a group of skiers gathered on a slope steep enough to slide, those skiers misjudging the steepness of that slope and a failure to recognize clear avalanche hazards. The guide triggered the first avalanche, which swept the whole group down the slope. A second avalanche buried Marshall under several feet of snow.
Remaining Complaint Against Backcountry Access and K2 Sports
The family of the 40-year-old Longmont skier is still suing K2 Sports and its subsidiary Backcountry Access, which makes an air bag backpack that was not deployed when rescuers found Marshall buried in more than 8 feet of avalanche debris. “Peter Marshall attempted to trigger his Float 32 avalanche air bag system but it did not fully deploy or inflate,” according to the complaint filed in Boulder District Court.
Marshall’s Backcountry Access Float 32 pack was not inflated. Colorado Avalanche Information Center investigators said in their report that the air bag backpack “was functioning properly,” with “the trigger out of the pack strap, but the bag was not deployed.”
K2 Sports, owned by private equity firm Kohlberg & Company, denied the allegations in a response filed this month. The K2 lawyers cited 16 facts they believe eliminate liability in their motion to dismiss the case.
Previous Float Pack Problems
The complaint notes that Backcountry Access recalled “substantially similar” Float packs due to a problem that could lead to a failure to deploy. The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission reported the recall of 8,200 Float 18 packs on Nov. 26, 2013. They warned that the trigger assembly can fail “resulting in the air bag not deploying, posing a risk of death and injury in the event of an avalanche.”
The complaint by the Marshall family argues Backcountry Access “should have known insufficient changes were made to the design of avalanche air bags manufactured after the recall to prevent such failures.” The lawsuit argues that Backcountry Access should have been aware of “safer alternative designs,” such as a remote or automatic triggering or inflation system.
Another skier in the group was wearing an avalanche air bag and attempted to use it when he was swept off his feet. It also failed to inflate. “Later, he determined that he assembled the trigger mechanism incorrectly,” reads the CAIC report. It did not identify the brand of air bag used by that skier.
A 2014 study showed 60% of avalanche accidents involving skiers with un-inflated air bags were because the skier never pulled the trigger. That study also showed 12% of so-called non-inflation incidents were due to user error, including assembling the trigger mechanism incorrectly.
Site of the fatal avalanche during a Level 2 AIARE course behind the lawsuit against Silverton Avalanche School (settled) and Backcountry Access.
A week from graduating high school, Alaska avalanche survivor Peter Schutt was physically on top of the world as he climbed Donoho Peak near the Alaska/Canada border.
Unfortunately, Schutt’s adventure took a dangerous turn when an avalanche struck. Snow that was once a fixture on the frigid face of the mountain suddenly cut loose and turned into a freight train of cold, sugary crystals stampeding in rapid, unstoppable motion.
The avalanche pitched him over a 75-foot cliff on his tumble down 2,500 feet of the jagged mountain face. He remembers covering his head as best he could to prevent further injury.
After the avalanche Schutt’s friend and partner made his way down, contacted National Park Service via cell phone and provided cell phone GPS coordinates to aid the rescue response.
Alaska Air National Guardsmen of the 176th Wing partnered with multiple civil search and rescue partners to rescue Schutt during the May 26, 2021, ordeal.
Following weeks of recovery, Alaska avalanche survivor Schutt, with several family members, visited the 176th Wing July 9 to share his story, tour the aircraft involved in the rescue, and thank his rescuers.
Following Schutt’s fall, National Park Service contacted the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center at 6:20 p.m. to notify them of the incident and request a hoist-capable aircraft be on standby. Snow conditions and steep terrain on Donoho made it impossible for the National Park Service A-Star helicopter to reach the injured hiker, and at 8:05 p.m. the NPS requested Air National Guard sup-port.
“The patient lost footing and rolled hundreds of feet down a snow-covered slope near Donoho Peak in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve,” said NPS Ranger and incident commander Stephens Harper. “The fall triggered a snow slide, which then carried the patient over a cliff into a ravine.”
Schutt’s father, Aaron, was boarding a plane bound for Minnesota when he got the phone call no parent wants to receive. He was told the fall was “not a survivable incident.”
“Which is what you don’t want to hear as a parent,” he recalled.
Wrangell Mountain Air, a private charter company, spotted Schutt, confirmed his location, and re-layed GPS coordinates to the National Park Service who then relayed the information to the AK RCC.
With coordinates in hand, the AK RCC contacted the 176th Wing who dispatched a 210th Rescue Squadron HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter, a 211th Rescue Squadron HC-130J Combat King II and a 212th Rescue Squadron Guardian Angel team comprising pararescue personnel (PJs).
First responders from Kennicott Wilderness Guides, who are also Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve Search and Rescue Team members, hiked a couple of miles to the ravine. They pro-vided emergency medical care while on the phone with the National Park Service Alaska Region medical director who is also an emergency room physician for Alaska Regional Hospital.
The NPS helicopter flew to the area but was unable to land safely, so they air-dropped medical supplies to the first responders and notified Harper of the need for a hoist and litter to safely move the patient off of the mountain.
The danger on the mountain didn’t dissolve when help arrived.
“While on the phone with [the doctor], they heard the snow shifting above them and moved the patient to higher ground before a second snow slide traveled down the ravine,” Harper said.
Maj. Ben Leonard, 210th RQS HH-60 rescue pilot, said the crew was training for the week at Eielson Air Force Base, about 300 miles north of their home base of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Leonard said the training proved helpful during the real-world rescue after Master Sgt. Tim Ching, HH-60 special missions aviator, completed 23 simulated hoists during four hours of training.
“In particular that week, we had done a ton of hoist training, especially high-angle hoist training, which is the scenario you ended up in later that week.,” he said. “In the days prior, we had flown a lot as a crew, and Tim had done what I would call a record number of live hoists in very challeng-ing scenarios with the PJs.”
Once on-scene, the Air National Guard pararescue team of Senior Master Sgt. Bryan Dalere and Sen-ior Airman Nathan Graber hoisted down to Schutt’s location where they provided additional medi-cal support and stabilized him for hoist to the helicopter. Looking through the window, HH-60 res-cue pilot Maj. Jake Ring said he marveled at the cliff fall Schutt survived.
“I remember looking up and thinking that has to be at least 80 feet,” he said.
The Pave Hawk crew transported Alaska avalanche survivor Schutt to the McCarthy Airport where he was transloaded to a Guardian Flight AirMedCare air ambulance and taken to Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage.
This rescue involved coordination between multiple agencies, including the 176th Wing, Alaska Air National Guard, Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve Search and Rescue Team, National Park Service Fire Management in Fairbanks, National Park Service A-Star Helicopter, Wrangell Mountain Air, Guardian Flight, and Kennicott Wilderness Guides.
“It was the people, including Peter, with his will to live,” Aaron said in crediting the save. “His friend who was with him called for help immediately, and they got down to him within an hour and did all the right things on the ice – kept him as comfortable as possible, kept him alert, and continued to talk to his mother.”
During the July 9 visit, Schutt’s family toured a 211th RQS HC-130 as well as the HH-60 that res-cued him. Maj. Stephen Ludwig, 176th Wing Exercise and Planning officer and Combat King pilot, coordinated the event and gave Schutt a detailed rundown of the HC-130 flight deck.
“It’s always great, working in the RCC and working here, having survivors come back and share their stories, and to put a face to [a rescue,]” Ludwig said.
After recalling the events of May 26, Aaron expressed his appreciation of the multi-agency team that rescued his son.
“We’re just very thankful to all of you and what you do on a daily basis.,” he said.
Alaska avalanche survivor meets and thanks Arctic Guardian rescue teamAlaska avalanche survivor meets and thanks Arctic Guardian rescue team
A Summit County Court judge dismissed a motion to suppress a GoPro video of the avalanche. Evan Hannibal and Tyler DeWitt had given the video to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC).
The video is evidence in the Summit County District Attorney’s case against Hannibal and DeWitt. They are charged with reckless endangerment and could face a $168,000 fine. These are the first criminal charges ever filed against skiers involved in an avalanche in Colorado.
The prosecution argues that the avalanche defendants endangered drivers near the west portal of the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels. They want $168,000 to replace an avalanche control system destroyed they destroyed. The CAIC said they triggered the avalanche.
The snowboarders argued that prosecutors conducted an unlawful search and seizure when they based the allegations on the helmet-cam video. The men gave the video to the CAIC voluntarily. They hoped it could be useful so others might avoid a similar slide.
CAIC is a State Agency
“This is a state agency, a constitutional actor, not informing citizens that what they are voluntarily disclosing in good faith to that that state agency could, and in this case was, turned over to law enforcement for purposes of prosecution,” Jason Flores-Williams, the attorney for DeWitt and Hannibal, said during the motions hearing on Tuesday. “This is extraordinarily problematic. There was a duty to inform Mr. Hannibal that what he was providing to the CAIC could be turned over to law enforcement.”
CAIC director Ethan Greene and avalanche forecaster Jason Konigsberg testified that the avalanche defendants voluntarily provided information and video about the avalanche. The CAIC report said the snowboarders triggered the avalanche. And also that the two “assumed that the avalanche mitigation to protect the tunnel infrastructure decreased the avalanche hazard on the slope.”
Greene said it is common for law enforcement to request information. The CAIC shares its reports. The state agency offers all reports for public review. “Our role is to facilitate people understanding avalanches, and we do that by sharing information,” Greene said. “If the public requests information from us, we provide it.”
The CAIC did not include the video in its public report, although they often do publishes videos. “It was my judgment that the content of the video did not add to the educational messages we were trying to get across in the report,” Greene said.
Video Provided Voluntarily
Konigsberg agreed with Flores-William in saying the sharing of the video was “voluntary and collegial.”
Flores-William asked Konigsberg if he thought the video could be handed over to law enforcement. “Can I think about that for a second?” Konigsberg asked. “Honestly, it’s not something I thought about. I kind of had a one-track mind to collect information for avalanche education and safety, like I always do.”
The prosecution argued that Hannibal and DeWitt, experienced with CAIC reports, should have known that CAIC publishes information. “I understand there is a concern about the public policy side of this, but we have to focus on the law,” McCollum said. “And none of the law supports the … argument that this video or the photos that were obtained should be suppressed.”
Judge Ed Casias found there was not any violation of constitutional protections from unlawful search and seizure because there was no search and nothing was seized. “It wasn’t a search of any kind. Mr. Hannibal was asked if he would provide it and he did,” Casias said.
Casias said he wouldn’t expect Konigsberg to tell Hannibal the video could be used by law enforcement. “Frankly, he didn’t know that was going to happen. That was not the reason he was collecting information,” Casias said.
Miranda Rights don’t apply
Casias also denied the argument that the collection of the video violated the men’s Miranda rights, which only applies to people in custody when they are advised that what they say can be used against them in court. “There is information here that was provided voluntarily. It was provided to CAIC, not law enforcement,” Casias said.
The courts should ensure police don’t circumvent constitutional protections against unlawful search and seizure, Casias said. Still, he could not connect a skier providing information to an avalanche center with a constitutional violation.
“If there are things that you, as a backcountry traveler do that cause new concern that law enforcement may be involved and someone reaches out and asks for information, you don’t have to give it,” Casias said. “I can’t make you disclose and I can’t make you withhold. But if your common goal is to make it safer for other people … it’s your decision.”
The two avalanche defendants started an avalanche that created a threat to I-70.
The second avalanche death in two years in the same location, and at least the fourth in total, has spurred an Avalanche Risk Discussion.
The Avalanche
On Friday, January 8, Clinton, Utah man was killed in an avalanche on the Park City ridgeline in Dutch Draw. It’s a popular backcountry skiing area that is easily accessible from a chairlift at Park City Mountain. It’s the fourth fatal accident in Dutch Draw in the past 15 years. And the second year in a row in which someone has been killed in an accident on the steep run known as Conehead. The tragic accident has raised concerns in the community about how prevent avalanche accidents among people who are not aware of the dangers.
The victim and his girlfriend exited the backcountry access gate atop the Ninety-Nine 90 Express. Then they hiked up the ridge before dropping in to snowboard down a run called Conehead. The victim went first, and when he was about halfway down his girlfriend followed. Then an avalanche occurred. The woman was not caught in the slide.
Rescue personnel responded to the accident when the woman called 911 immediately after the avalanche. But due to risks of additional avalanches they were unable to proceed until after 2:00 p.m. Both riders had some experience in the backcountry, but neither were carrying avalanche rescue equipment at the time of the accident.
A patroller said a self-rescue of the victim in this accident may have been possible with properly equipped and trained partners. They also said this accident was predictable due to recent avalanche activity in the area and the overall state of the snowpack. Which features a considerable avalanche risk on a persistent weak layer of snow.
The Avalanche Risk Discussion
This area is a readily accessible backcountry area. Because of this easy access the area in Dutch Draw and Square Top further north are very popular. And since these areas are visible from chairlifts they are also appealing to people who may not have the experience and equipment required to safely ski and snowboard there.
Park City Mountain, however, is not able to limit access based on a person’s qualifications due to liability concerns. The private property resort borders National Forest. And the forest service encourages, but does not require, access gates. The gate is marked with stern warnings about the dangers inherent to leaving the resort boundary. However, to many people this signage is just one more warning. Others mark inbounds dangers, closed terrain, and other hazards.
Some people have argued more should be done to warn skiers who may be unaware of the dangers posed by backcountry terrain. They could put resort personnel near the gate to inform people of the risk. Or require checking out with ski patrol and carrying an avalanche beacon, shovel and probe. A check-out procedure is used at some other resorts.
While the avalanche risk discussion is ongoing the Park City Mountain Resort has not indicated decisions to date.
The Park City accident site which has spurred an avalanche risk discussion. Note all the other tracks which are visible in this popular area.
An avalanche south of Cooke City carried three skiers down Republic Mountain, two were injured in the avalanche. One had to be evacuated by helicopter and another was temporarily unconscious and not breathing, according to a report.
“It’s super serious avalanche terrain,” said Doug Chabot, director of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center.
In many ways, the skiers had done everything right. All six were carrying beacons and had rescue gear. They had radios to summons help.
Skiers checked with a 6 foot deep snowpit
However, they did not check the snowpack in the place they decided to ascend the mountain, Chabot said. They had dug a snowpit 2 meters deep to check the likelihood of an avalanche. “A hundred feet off to the side the snowpack changed,” he said, to an area with much less snow, only three feet.
“In terrain like that you have to be 100 percent sure” that the snowpack has no instabilities, Chabot added. All week long in its daily reports, the avalanche center had warned the snowpack was unstable and avalanches had been remotely triggered on even low-angle slopes. However, the Cooke City area had been standing out as a relatively more stable snowpack compared to other areas.
The avalanche broke about 1.5 to 2 feet deep approximately 250 feet above the skiers.
The avalanche
Recovery of the two injured in the avalanche
Three of the skiers were swept downhill. The avalanche was 200 feet wide and ran 700 feet down the mountain. It was a large avalanche, and it went through some ugly terrain.
One skier deployed his airbag to keep from being buried. He was not injured in the avalanche. He quickly got up and began searching for his partners. One of the other skiers was found buried head down with his mouth packed full of snow. He freed that skier and cleared the airway so he was able to breathe on his own. That victim was able to ski out despite a leg injury.
Meanwhile, the three skiers who were not caught or injured in the avalanche found the third victim. He was buried higher on the mountain after being dragged across rocks. The trip caused injuries to his ribs and a collapsed lung.
Location of the skiers injured in the avalanche. Three were not caught despite being very close to the edge of it.
The Rescue
The skiers had two-way radios and were able to notify Park County Search and Rescue. Cellphones do not work in the remote area between Yellowstone National Park and the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness.
Two members of the search and rescue arrived and ascended 1200 feet then descended 400 to the avalanche zone. They brought medical and survival gear in case they had to spend the night.
The rescuers helped stabilize the injured skier and made a fire to stay warm while awaiting a helicopter to arrive from Jackson, Wyoming since Bozeman was too fogged in to fly.
The avalanche had occurred about noon. About 4 p.m. the helicopter arrived and long-lined the victim out. He was then flown to a regional hospital for care.
Snowpack is not improving
“It’s not going to get better anytime soon,” Chabot warned, because a weak layer of snow still sits underneath. As more snow falls that layer has a higher chance of failing under the increased weight.
“It’s different this year because it’s not taking a lot of snow”, Chabot said. “That makes it a little scarier.”
Monday is a holiday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This might mean more people in the backcountry.
“Our fingers are crossed that people will continue to get lucky,” Chabot said. “But it’s a bit of a losing battle if you’re relying on luck.”
Chabot added that it will take time before the snowpack is stable, because right now even under moderate conditions people are triggering avalanches.
“You have to be really careful about where you’re headed,” Chabot said. “It’s a bit of a minefield.”
An Elko, Nevada, snowmobiler died in a Wyoming avalanche on Friday. It is estimated that he was buried inverted under the snow for about 15 minutes.
Brandon Jones, 41, was snowmobiling away from his party late on Dec. 18 on “Suicide Mountain”. He triggered a medium-sized avalanche 24″ deep. He was able to deploy an airbag, which kept him near the snow surface with a leg sticking out.
“The balloon worked – it kept him up above. If someone would have seen it, he probably would have survived it, because they would have dug him out” said Lincoln County Coroner Dain Schwab.
When the other snowmobilers did recover him he lacked a pulse, was blue in the face, and wasn’t breathing. The man who found Jones suspected he had broken his neck. Schwab ordered a CT scan to see if this was a factor in the death. CPR was not administered, according to the coroner, who visited the scene the night of the accident.
“It was actually pretty dangerous just digging him out of there,” Schwab said. “We were up on the hillside under cornices that were unbroken.”
First Wyoming Fatality, in the Salt River Range
Jones and his group were snowmobiling in the Sheep Pass area, southeast of Afton at the far southern end of the Salt River Range. The slide occurred at nearly 10,000 feet on an eastern aspect.
The fatality marks the first lethal avalanche of the winter in Northwest Wyoming.
The Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center Director visited the site on Sunday to investigate. He determined the avalanche ran over the crusted snowpack that baked in the sun during the dry spell in late November and early December.
“We dug a snow pit near the site yesterday, and we feel confident that this was all the new snow that has fallen since Dec. 11,” he said. “The avalanche conditions are still dangerous up there. People should be careful.”
The avalanche danger on Monday morning was still deemed “considerable” at high elevations in the Salt and Wyoming ranges, according to the morning forecast.
Jones had a wife, Mary, and three kids, Blayde, Ebony and Slayde, according to a Facebook post by the Elko business Evolution Powersports. A funeral service has been scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday in Malad, Idaho.
As of December 22 this is one of 3 fatal incidents listed by the Avalanche Center, along with 3 others outside the US. There is also a link to the avalanche advisory for the day there.
The yellow symbol marks the site of the fatal Wyoming avalanche on Friday.
avalanche-center.org
