“At 1:30 pm, TCSAR was alerted to an avalanche with a known burial in Prater Canyon in Lincoln County. The team responded with the TCSAR helicopter and short-hauled two skiers out of the backcountry. Unfortunately, one skier did not survive. You can read a preliminary accident report on the Bridger Teton Avalanche Center observation page. Our team extends its most sincere condolences to the friends and family of the deceased skier.” -Teton County Search and Rescue
A skier is dead after being buried by an avalanche near Prater Canyon and east of the Star Valley Ranch area in Lincoln County, Wyoming on Sunday. Two skiers were in the area when the avalanche happened. Our thoughts go out the family and friends of the deceased.
Here is the report from The Bridger Teton Avalanche Center:
AVALANCHE SUMMARY
The party discussed staying on the sub-ridge feature previously wind-hammered during the wind event that occurred two days prior. The party skied several hundred vertical feet from the ridge without incident.
After regrouping and discussing specific route strategy for the next pitch, the second skier diverted from the intended route and triggered a 2-3′ thick and 50′ wide soft slab on a steeper terrain feature adjacent to a gully. Debris funneled into the gully and carried the victim through brush and trees.
Skier 2 was buried under approximately 2 feet of snow. The first skier performed a beacon search and excavated the skier in ~15minutes, but found his partner pulseless with signs of a leg injury. The first skier performed CPR for 1.5 hours. Due to the nature of the visible leg injury and the subjects position in the debris, it seems most likely that the skier was unconcious when the debris came to rest and may have died of trauma.
Both subjects were extricated via helicopter due to dangerous avalanche conditions on the ground approaching the route and hangfire above the scene of the incident. The responding USFS LEO witnessed another avalanche while on scene before other rescuers arrived.
A complete report will be published soon. Our condolences to those affected by this accident.
# AVALANCHES:
1
ASPECT:
NW
ASPECT RANGE:
N
SLOPE ANGLE:
36°
ELEVATION:
8700 ft
VERTICAL FALL:
700 ft
DESTRUCTIVE SIZE:
D2
RELATIVE SIZE:
R2
TYPE:
SS-Soft Slab
PROBLEM TYPE:
Persistent Slab
BED SURFACE:
I-New/Old Interface
WEAK LAYER GRAIN TYPE:
FC-Faceted Crystals
WEAK LAYER BURIAL DATE:
Jan 4, 2024
SLAB THICKNESS:
60 cm (2 ft)
WIDTH:
50 ft
TRIGGER:
AS-Skier
u-Unintentional
TERMINUS:
U – Unknown
