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Dan Woods and other will be in our prayers
CAT SIEH
THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
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UPDATED AT 3:51 P.M.
Rescue crews have located the body of a second snowmobiler killed in a New Year's Day avalanche near Mt. Baker, according to a rescuer at the scene.
Rescuers found Whatcom County resident Dan Woods, who was in his sixties, this afternoon. Woods was among five snowmobilers were swept down a slope Tuesday in an avalanche north of Mount Baker. The body of another woman in the group was found Tuesday.
Whatcom County Sheriff's Deputy George Ratayczak said the snowmobilers were in the Church Mountain area of Excelsior Pass on Tuesday afternoon when they were caught in an avalanche about 1 p.m. and swept several hundred feet downhill.
Two in the group were uninjured, a sheriff's press release said. One person was able to self-rescue after being buried in the snow. An hour after the avalanche, the group found the body of a woman, who was wearing an avalanche beacon. It took the group another hour to dig the woman out from six feet of snow. They were unable to resuscitate her.
The group searched the area for the remaining snowmobiler for another two hours before calling for help, the release said.
Faith Gallatin, a member of the Whatcom County Snowmobile Association, said Woods had been a member of the club in the past. She said Members of the Woods family had a tradition of camping and snowmobiling in the area for the new year.
Ratayczak said the snowmobilers were on a slope at the 5,300-foot level when the avalanche occurred. The snow was 5 to 6 feet deep, and the fracture was at least 100 yards long.
The department could not say what equipment the group and the missing person was carrying, nor the age or gender of the missing person. The names of the people involved have not been released, pending notification of next of kin.
The Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center warned of "considerable avalanche danger above 4,000 feet" in the area, in a forecast for Jan. 1. The center called for "caution and safe travel routes," in the area.
A permit is required to access the Excelsior Pass area, which is accessed via Forest Road 31. The area was open to the public, with a permit, at the time, said a Mt. Baker Ranger Station employee.
Mick Steinman, Washington State Snowmobile Association Safety Chair, said avalanche danger has been unusually high in the North Cascades this year.
"The (avalanche) danger has been elevated throughout December and will be for a while," he said. "It hasn't been below 'considerable' since Dec. 1. There are some loose layers lower in the snow pack that will give persistent problems."
On Snoqualmie Pass, road crews began avalanche control work at 2 p.m., blocking traffic on Interstate 90, according to the state Department of Transportation.
Counting the recent deaths, eight people have been killed in avalanches in Washington state since Dec. 1, Steinman said. That's unusually high, he said, noting that the average for ten years has been 2.5 people per year.
Dan Woods and other will be in our prayers
CAT SIEH
THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
E-mail | Print | Bookmark Digg it del.icio.us AIM comments (5) Map This*Beta
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATED AT 3:51 P.M.
Rescue crews have located the body of a second snowmobiler killed in a New Year's Day avalanche near Mt. Baker, according to a rescuer at the scene.
Rescuers found Whatcom County resident Dan Woods, who was in his sixties, this afternoon. Woods was among five snowmobilers were swept down a slope Tuesday in an avalanche north of Mount Baker. The body of another woman in the group was found Tuesday.
Whatcom County Sheriff's Deputy George Ratayczak said the snowmobilers were in the Church Mountain area of Excelsior Pass on Tuesday afternoon when they were caught in an avalanche about 1 p.m. and swept several hundred feet downhill.
Two in the group were uninjured, a sheriff's press release said. One person was able to self-rescue after being buried in the snow. An hour after the avalanche, the group found the body of a woman, who was wearing an avalanche beacon. It took the group another hour to dig the woman out from six feet of snow. They were unable to resuscitate her.
The group searched the area for the remaining snowmobiler for another two hours before calling for help, the release said.
Faith Gallatin, a member of the Whatcom County Snowmobile Association, said Woods had been a member of the club in the past. She said Members of the Woods family had a tradition of camping and snowmobiling in the area for the new year.
Ratayczak said the snowmobilers were on a slope at the 5,300-foot level when the avalanche occurred. The snow was 5 to 6 feet deep, and the fracture was at least 100 yards long.
The department could not say what equipment the group and the missing person was carrying, nor the age or gender of the missing person. The names of the people involved have not been released, pending notification of next of kin.
The Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center warned of "considerable avalanche danger above 4,000 feet" in the area, in a forecast for Jan. 1. The center called for "caution and safe travel routes," in the area.
A permit is required to access the Excelsior Pass area, which is accessed via Forest Road 31. The area was open to the public, with a permit, at the time, said a Mt. Baker Ranger Station employee.
Mick Steinman, Washington State Snowmobile Association Safety Chair, said avalanche danger has been unusually high in the North Cascades this year.
"The (avalanche) danger has been elevated throughout December and will be for a while," he said. "It hasn't been below 'considerable' since Dec. 1. There are some loose layers lower in the snow pack that will give persistent problems."
On Snoqualmie Pass, road crews began avalanche control work at 2 p.m., blocking traffic on Interstate 90, according to the state Department of Transportation.
Counting the recent deaths, eight people have been killed in avalanches in Washington state since Dec. 1, Steinman said. That's unusually high, he said, noting that the average for ten years has been 2.5 people per year.
permit is required to access the Excelsior Pass area, which is accessed via Forest Road 31. The area was open to the public, with a permit, at the time, said a Mt. Baker Ranger Station employee .
