A Snowmobiler was killed in the Sawtooth National Forest in central Idaho. The activity triggering a large avalanche.
The following written content from Alaa Elassar and Kaylene Chassie
The snowmobiler was riding up a steep slope in the Smoky Mountains, roughly 8 miles from Galena Summit, when he triggered the avalanche, according to the Sawtooth Avalanche Center.”
We are saddened to report that a snowmobiler was caught and killed in an avalanche yesterday in the upper reaches of the Smiley Creek drainage,” the avalanche center said in a Facebook post.
“The avalanche danger was rated considerable at the time of the accident,” the center said. “We extend our heartfelt condolences to the victim’s friends and family.”
The rider deployed his avalanche airbag and was not buried, according to the center, but died from severe injuries sustained during the torrent of snow.
His partners discovered him on the surface and were unable to revive him.”
The avalanche broke 3-4′ (feet) deep and over 500′ (feet) wide on a south-facing slope at 9100′ (feet),” the center said.
A deadly avalanche season
The snowmobiler’s death marks the latest in a series of deadly avalanches that have killed 29 people across the United States this winter season, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
Record Week of US Avalanche Deaths
From February 9th 2021
In what has become a historically deadly week for avalanches in the US, a Washington State Patrol trooper was killed in an avalanche while snowmobiling.
The U.S. just saw the deadliest week for avalanches in more than 100 years.
- Last week’s grim death total was the most in a seven-day period since March of 1910, when an avalanche swept away two trains in Wellington, Wash. and killed 96 people.
- On Saturday, four skiers were killed in the backcountry of Utah’s Millcreek Canyon areas and four others were injured in a skier-triggered avalanche.
- In total, 21 people have died in avalanches across the country during the 2020-2021 season as of Monday.
At least 15 people were killed in avalanches from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6 in Utah, Montana, Colorado, California, Arkansas, and New Hampshire, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC). In total, 21 people have died in avalanches across the country during the 2020-2021 season as of Monday. Last season, a total of 23 people died in avalanches and the U.S. typically sees an average of 27 deaths each year.
Last week’s grim death total was the most in a seven-day period since March of 1910, when an avalanche swept away two trains in Wellington, Wash. and killed 96 people.
On Saturday, four skiers were killed in the backcountry of Utah’s Millcreek Canyon areas and four others were injured in a skier-triggered avalanche that occurred at an elevation of just under 10,000 feet. The fatalities tied for the highest-known death toll for an avalanche in Utah. An avalanche near Moab’s Gold Basin killed four people in 1992. Read more
