One person hurt in Whitefish MT avalanche

[HOTROD_MT]

One person hurt in Whitefish avalanche

Posted: Dec 19, 2007 02:09 PM MST

Updated: Dec 19, 2007 05:43 PM MST

One person hurt in Whitefish avalanche



A young man is in stable condition at Kalispell Medical Center, after getting caught in an avalanche on his snowmobile Wednesday.

Authorities say the snow slide happened on the back side of Big Mountain, on Fiberglass Hill in the Canyon Creek area at around 12:30 p.m.

The U.S. Forest Service was called to the scene, and Kalispell Regional Medical Center's ALERT Helicopter transported him to the hospital with a broken leg.

The Forest Service says the cause of the avalanche is still under investigation.

- Mark Thorsell reporting for KAJ in Kalispell with information from Angela Monroe

 

[Scott]

After a couple weeks of warm and inconistant snow, we've been getting a lot of snow this past few days....it's that time of the year for that stuff to begin to happen.

 

[MTdream]

After a couple weeks of warm and inconistant snow, we've been getting a lot of snow this past few days....it's that time of the year for that stuff to begin to happen.

Yup, and Fiberglass is HIGHLY prone to this stuff even in moderate avy conditions...

Pray he is ok, and that he comes throguh fine!!

 

[Mountain West Motorsports]

It's too bad that he was caught up in an avy...but glad to hear that he is still alive and will be able to ride again some day.

 

[Rush44]

Fiberglass lives up to it's name and swollows a sled.... thankfully it decided to spare the life of this lucky rider.

 

[polarisperson]

I'm at big mountain for vacation and talked to a local ski patrol guy on the lift about the avalanche. He said that the man in the avalanche was only partially buried and needed medical attention because a tree caught him during the avalanche. It sounds like he will be alright.

 

[Motley Doo]

Yeah, it didn't sound that bad, I'm going to try to go riding up by there this week, have to keep an eye out! Will be breaking in a motor, so I won't be doing to much climbing! Stay out of those fun, long, open chutes that are soooo much fun to play in!

 

[02prox440]

Glad to hear that he is alive and hopefully he will have a quick and good recovery

 

[cowkiller]

Glad to hear that he is alive and hopefully he will have a quick and good recovery

Ditto

 

[HOTROD_MT]

Second avalanche hits near Whitefish

Posted: Dec 19, 2007 02:09 PM MST

Updated: Dec 21, 2007 07:05 AM MST

Second avalanche hits near Whitefish


A second snowmobiler has survived an avalanche that hit near Whitefish.

Officials with the Flathead National Forest say that the latest incident involved a man in his 40's who was snowmobiling alone. His snowmobile got stuck and officials say that when he tried to get moving again a slab of snow came down.

The man was able to move out of the way, but his snowmobile was buried, so he hiked out of the backcountry to report the avalanche.

Back on Wednesday, a 19-year-old man got caught in an avalanche while riding his snowmobile in the Cabin Creek area behind Big Mountain.

That man suffered a broken leg and at last check was listed is in stable condition at Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

Avalanches are among the most deadly, continuing, natural disasters on earth and experts say that if you're venturing out to the backcountry, then you need to be prepared.

When avalanches do happen the slides can quickly reach speeds of 30 mph to 80 mph and some 90% of all avalanches that involve people are triggered by the victims themselves, or a member of their party.

Experts say that onlookers need to be ready to act if a snow slide happens and add that folks should exercise common sense in the backcountry. Some advice: be able to recognize avalanche signs, have good travel partners and the proper gear on hand.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(from December 20, 2007)

A 19-year-old man is recovering from a broken leg, after being buried in an avalanche Wednesday in the Canyon Creek drainage area, near Whitefish Mountain Ski Resort.

The young man, and two others, were snowmobiling in a designated area when they triggered an avalanche. Whitefish Mountain Ski Patrol says the young men told them the 19-year-old was "high-marking" - driving the snowmobile vertically up a steep slope on Fiberglass Hill.

The young men dug their friend up and then traveled onto the ski resort for help. Ski patrol then stabilized the young man, and took him to the Kalispell Regional Medical Center's ALERT Helicopter.

Officials with both the Flathead National Forest Service and Whitefish Mountain Ski Patrol say the back country conditions are fairly unstable. People can check the conditions by going to www.glacieravalanche.org, or calling the Avalanche hotline at 257-8402.

The Forest Service posts advisories on Tuesday and Friday mornings, and they also offer Avalanche Awareness classes starting in January for skiers, mountaineers and snowmobilers.

-Angela Monroe reporting for KAJ in Kalispell

 

[CatWoman]

From this morning's avalanche advisory:

Our snowpit investigations in these two areas were finding the new snow was adding stress to a midpack layer of buried, weakly bonded faceted grains. In some areas up to an inch thick, this weak layer is typically found atop a much stronger buried melt-freeze ice layer. It was a combination of new snow loading, a substantial, buried and poorly bonded weak layer, all atop a strong, solid melt-freeze ice layer as a bed surface that produced the avalanche incident that seriously injured a 19-year old snowmobiler Wednesday morning in the Canyon Creek area of the southern Whitefish Range. While hi-marking a steep south facing slope he triggered a slab avalanche that mostly buried him and broke his femur when he impacted a tree approx. mid path.

Continuing snow Wednesday night and early Thursday added to the stress equation and produced more extensive and widespread avalanching in the southern Whitefish Range Thursday morning. In the same area as Wednesday's incident, a lone snowmobiler became stuck in the new snow Thursday morning. While attempting to free the machine, a extensive natural avalanche released above him burying this newly accquired machine along with the jacket and helmet he had removed as he labored and the snowshovel he utilized to dig.

The natural avalanches in the Canyon Creek and Kimmerly Basin areas of the southern Whitefish Range on Thursday were releasing on steep slopes on all aspects, both in the open and in the trees.

Sorry to hear of both of these, but glad they are alive.

Today's Advisory:

AVALANCHE - INSTABILITY DESCRIPTION:
We're currently rating the avalanche danger between the elevations of 5,500
and 7,500' as CONSIDERABLE on steep slopes with significant amounts of
newly deposited snow. Unstable slab layers are probable on steep terrain,
both on open slopes and in the trees. Natural avalanches are possible,
while human triggered avalanches are probable. Backcountry travelers
should be very cautious in steeper terrain. Be aware of potentially
dangerous areas of unstable snow on all aspects.

Please be safe out there.