Snowmobiler Dies in Avalanche

[Sombeech]

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=28664624&nid...cid=featured-1



HUNTINGTON

[BruteForce]

I've sledded that area plenty and when there's loads of fresh powder, there's much potential for an avalanche. 3 years ago, we hit over 8' of fresh powder in an area we knew had high risk for avalanche.. but, we did the smart thing and exfil'd post-haste, rather than hang around in all that glorious powder.

[oldno7]

Lost a friend in there several years ago--04 or 05, I think.

Lots of big hills and slide potential.

[pikan]

My brother in law got caught in an avalanche (2000ish) in that same area. He came very close to the same fate, but luckily the rescuers got to him in time...scary stuff!

-Luke

[Bootboy]

In my 7 years of ski patrol and SAR, ive learned that a little knowledge and some gear combined with an "it can't happen to me" mentality gets people killed.

They think that carrying a beacon/shovel/probe means you can ride wherever, whenever because, hey, we're prepared.

More often than not, Situational awareness and foreknowledge of the conditions are what save lives, not beacons. Safety gear also doesn't protect you from blunt force trauma. Of the 3 avalanche fatalities/body recoveries I've personally been involved in, all there were killed by trauma. 2 of them were dead before the snow stopped moving.

Be careful out there.