Avalanche
“Update: At approx. 1208 hours, AST was notified the body of Russel Linzner, 38 of Fairbanks, was recovered by a fellow snowmachiner and the group of searchers. He was located approx. 5-7 feet below the surface in close proximity to his snowmachine. Helo-2 is transporting the body to the State Medical Examiner’s Office at this time. The next of kin has been notified. All searchers and equipment are being recalled.
On 04/11/2016, at approximately 1945 hours, AST received a report from a snowmachiner stating he was in the mountains near Summit lake with two friends and one of them was caught in an avalanche. It was reported that the missing snowmachiner, identified by friends as an adult male, was not believed to be wearing an avalanche beacon when the avalanche hit. It is believed the man was buried. The closest ground assets were two hours away and AST would not be able to make it to the scene until after dark, which would make a search and/or body retrieval extremely dangerous in the avalanche prone area. On 4/12/2016, AST is responding along with Fort Greely Fire and Rescue. Personnel from the Valdez Avalanche Center are responding to assess the avalanche threat with the assistance of Helo-2 out of Anchorage. Wilderness Search and Rescue (WSAR) is attempting to get in touch with PAWS in Fairbanks to see if a K9 is available to help in the search. AST is meeting with Delta Rescue and the Fort Greely Fire Department to coordinate the on-the-ground search effort.” – Alaska State Troopers, today
The most recent avalanche forecast on April 9th placed the Arctic Man region of the Eastern Alaska Range as CONSIDERABLE, the avalanche rating that the most people die under.
There was also an avalanche fatality in this region on April 3rd, 2016.
27 people have died in the USA year in avalanches.
The USA averages 27 avalanche fatalities per year.
