Investigators visit site of Glacier Park avalanche incident

A Missoula man was hospitalized Tuesday, Jan. 8, after he was swept away in an avalanche in Glacier National Park and carried about 800 feet down the slope.

Two men, a snowboarder and skier, ages 34 and 35, were on the slopes of Elk Mountain, on the southern end of the Park about five miles west of Marias Pass, when they triggered an avalanche at about 3:30 p.m.

The avalanche rating for the area at the time of the incident was “considerable,” but neither man had checked conditions ahead of time, and they had skied the same route one day earlier.

A later investigation by the Flathead Avalanche Center found the avalanche was on the south-southeast side of the mountain known as the “Backstrap.” The avalanche was about 145 feet wide and ran 1,400 vertical feet. The crown was 12-36 inches deep.

The snowboarder, who is from Northwest Montana, was below the skier when the avalanche was triggered. He was surrounded by the moving snow but able to safely ride out of the way. He then heard the skier yelling from below and went to help.

The avalanche carried the skier through a stand of small trees and left him buried up to his neck, with his left arm and head protruding above the snow. He was not wearing a transceiver, his helmet was broken into numerous pieces, and he lost his skis and poles.

The snowboarder called friends in East Glacier, then called 911 and dug his friend out. The skier used his friend’s splitboard as they slowly made their way down the slope, while the snowboarder postholed through the deep snow.

The skier had a broken lower left arm, six broken ribs, a head contusion and a head laceration. A friend met them on the slope and helped as well. Rescue personnel arrived about 6:30 p.m. and loaded the skier on a snowmobile at the Fielding trailhead. He was eventually transported to a hospital in Browning.

Staff from the Flathead Avalanche Center accompanied the snowboarder to the site the next day. There were actually two slides that day, although no one was caught in the first slide. Investigating the slide was difficult due to high winds and new snow — nine inches of snow had fallen on the area since the incident.

Emergency personnel assisting Park rangers included members of the Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services, Glacier County Sheriff’s Office, Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, Flathead County Search and Rescue, and North Valley Search and Rescue.

This is the second incident this winter where a skier was partially buried by an avalanche and survived. The first incident occurred in December in the Jewel Basin, on the Swan Range.

For more information on avalanches and avalanche education in the Flathead, visit online at www.flatheadavalanche.org.