Avalanche
A family snowmobile trip in Utah’s Franklin Basin turned into a life-threatening situation when an avalanche buried one of two brothers on Christmas Eve.
The brothers were riding with their father when one triggered an avalanche while traversing a slope in Steep Hollow in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. While he managed to escape, his older brother was swept away by the snow.
“The avalanche carried both the rider and his sled down the slope for around 150 yards and through a group of trees,” reported Toby Weed, a forecaster with the Utah Avalanche Center. The victim was buried entirely, with only his gloved fingers visible above the snow.
The younger brother located his sibling using an avalanche transceiver and successfully dug him out. Despite being carried through trees, the rescued brother sustained only minor injuries, including a broken leg.
“A party of three, two brothers and their father went for a snowmobile ride in Franklin Basin on Christmas Eve. One of the brothers was side-hilling in a bowl beneath a cliff-band in Steep Hollow when he triggered the avalanche. He saw the slope ripple below and around his sled but was able to ride off the north flank of the avalanche. He watched as the avalanche swept up and carried his older brother, who was standing next to his sled below the slope. The avalanche carried both the rider and his sled down the slope for around 150 yards and through a group of trees, partially burying the sled and completely burying the older brother…
The father was stuck below the avalanche, but he switched his transceiver into search mode, and attempted to climb up to the toe of the avalanche. The snow was deep and completely unsupportable. He sank to the ground, wallowing up to his waist in the sugary snow, and could not make any headway.. The younger brother used a transceiver and an effective search pattern to first attain a signal, and then get close enough to see a couple of fingers of his brother’s gloved hand sticking out of the snow. After his recovery, the older broth, who later found out the he’d broken a leg in the accident, doubled up with his brother and was able to ride out of the backcountry.
On December 26, We went up to the scene of the accident and recovered the bent-up and broken sled and a badly ripped airbag that the older brother had deployed when he was caught by the avalanche. The damage to the sled, the airbag, and the rider was caused by all being dragged violently through a group of trees by the avalanche.”
The forecast rating for the day was “considerable.”
“There is CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger on northerly facing slopes at upper elevations. People could trigger dangerous slab avalanches failing on a persistent weak layer buried one to two feet deep.”
The Utah Avalanche Center warns that similar hazardous conditions will likely persist across northern Utah and southeastern Idaho. Backcountry enthusiasts are advised to check avalanche forecasts and exercise caution.
