Avalanche kills skier in Glacier National Park

[CatWoman]

The body of a Whitefish skier was found in Glacier National Park Thursday.


Authorities located the 37-year-old man’s body at the base of Mount Shields at the end of an avalanche slide Thursday afternoon.

Flathead County Sheriff Mike Meehan said authorities were unsure how long the skier had been missing or when the avalanche occurred.


Around 2 p.m., Glacier National Park rangers received a call from the victim’s friend, who found the man during a search of the area.
Rangers were on scene by 5:45 p.m. and confirmed the man’s death.


Safety concerns stemming from the dangerous conditions caused a bit of a delay, according to Glacier National Park spokesman Wade Muehlhof.
Flathead County Sheriff’s Office dispatched Sgt. Ernie Freebury as coroner.


Muehlhof said there is no reason to believe the avalanche claimed any other victims. Authorities were still on scene, investigating, at press time.


The skier’s name has not been released. He was a part-time Whitefish resident.


Mount Shields is located on the southeast side of Glacier Park, a few miles from U.S. 2.


http://www.dailyinterlake.com/news/local_montana/article_925ba058-3df5-11df-b9c4-001cc4c002e0.html

 

[airmanf]

That's horrible. RIP. Do you know if he was he there by himself? It kind of sounds like he was.

 

[CatWoman]

<table class="Box_69276210_Tb" width="98%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr align="left"><td class="Box_69276210_Td" width="100%">Glacier Park Avalanche Victim Identified



Maritsa Georgiou (04/02/10)

</td> </tr> <tr align="left"> <td class="Box_69276210_Td" width="100%"> The Flathead County Coroner identified a man whose body was found in Glacier National Park Thursday.

We're told the man was Brian Curtis Wright, 37. The Flathead County Sheriff's Department says Wright spent summers in Whitefish and winters in East Glacier.

Below is a press release issued by Glacier National Park:


Rangers at Glacier National Park are continuing their investigation into the death of Brian Curtis Wright, 37, of East Glacier, Montana, whose body was recovered in avalanche debris on the northeast face of Mt. Shields late Thursday afternoon, April 1. Rangers believe Wright triggered a large slab avalanche while snowboarding on Mt. Shields at approximately 1 p.m. Wednesday March 31 shortly after talking to his mother via cell phone from the summit of Mt. Shields. Mt. Shields is located in the southern most portion of Glacier National Park within a few miles of U.S. Highway 2. The Mt. Shields area is popular with backcountry ski and snowboard enthusiasts.


The fatality was reported to park rangers around 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 1. The reporting party told rangers they had last heard from Wright at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 30 when Wright texted friends that he was on Mt.
Shields (elev. 7131 ft.). When friends did not receive responses to subsequent text messages on Wednesday, they grew concerned. Thursday, a friend located Wright’s vehicle at the Fielding Ranger Station trailhead and skied up to Mt. Shields where Wright’s body was spotted high in a gully within the slide path of a recent avalanche. The backcountry party skied out and called park headquarters to report the avalanche and fatality.


Park personnel were dispatched to the trailhead Thursday afternoon.
Rangers skied up the northeast face of Mt. Shields to where they located Wright’s body and confirmed the fatality at 5:45 p.m. Additional park personnel were also dispatched and were on hand to respond as needed. A total of 20 NPS employees and a helicopter from Minuteman Aviation of West Glacier were involved in the park’s overall response to the incident.


At the scene, rangers found tracks that suggested Wright had made two trips up the face of Mt. Shields. One set of tracks was located in an open area with few trees. Field personnel observed a two-foot deep fracture in the snow pack just below the summit of Mt. Shields on its northeast face.
Rangers believe this route most likely triggered the avalanche which ran about 2,000 vertical feet; the overall reach of the avalanche was approximately 2,500 to 3,000 feet. The avalanche was approximately 150 yards wide and narrowed as it ran down a narrow gully. Wright’s body was about 200-300 yards above the end (toe) of the avalanche slide path.
Investigating rangers believe he tumbled approximately 2,000 feet before his body came to rest at an elevation of 5,427 feet. Avalanche debris in the vicinity of Wright’s body was measured at 20-30 feet deep; however, his body was only partially covered in the avalanche debris.


Wright was an avid outdoorsman and knowledgeable backcountry traveler.
Friends believed that Wright had an avalanche transceiver, but thus far, neither Wright’s backpack nor his transceiver have been located.


Park officials are saddened by this tragic death; however, they stress that all backcountry travelers are urged to be familiar with current avalanche conditions and heed avalanche warnings when venturing into avalanche prone backcountry areas as well as to have appropriate avalanche equipment (avalanche transceivers/beacons, probes and sturdy shovels). Backcountry enthusiasts are also urged not to travel alone, to have and know how to operate avalanche transceivers/beacons and to let someone know their itinerary and expected return date and approximate time.
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http://www.kcfw.com/Glacier-Park-Avalanche-Victim-Identified/6719769

 

[CatWoman]

Snowboarder dies in Glacier National Park avalanche



A snowboarder called his mother on his cell from the summit of a Glacier Park mountain peak and, minutes later, died in an avalanche.

The avalanche happened Wednesday on Mount Shields which is in the Southern part of the park just off Highway 2.
Searchers found 37 year-old Brian Wright's body on Thursday, some 2,000 feet from where the avalanche started. His friends think no one knew the mountain better or loved it more.

"It's a great loss," says his good friend Jason Robertson. "Glacier Park will never see another skier like him. He's skied more lines, made more first descents than anybody probably ever will in Glacier Park."

http://www.kcfw.com/pages/6720171.php?contentType=4&contentId=5860652