Avalanche Fatality, Truman Gulch

Activity
Skiing
Date
1 skier caught, partially buried and killed
Synopsis

On February 26, 2019 a 36 year old male skier (Skier 1) was caught and killed in an avalanche on the west side of the Bridger Range near Bridger Bowl Ski Area. He accessed backcountry terrain by riding the Schlasman’s Chairlift at Bridger Bowl before leaving the ski area boundary to the west. At approximately 1400 hours he dropped into a northwest facing slope at the top of the St. Lawrence Slide Path and made one ski cut without results before entering the main path. After two or three turns the slide broke above him which caught and carried him approximately one thousand vertical feet through trees where he came to rest near the toe of the debris. The slide was witnessed by two skiers (Skier A and Skier B) who were ascending a skin track nearby. Skiers A and B immediately transitioned into downhill ski mode, began a search and quickly picked up a transceiver signal which led them to a hand sticking out of the snow. They uncovered Skier 1 within 10 minutes and began CPR which was unsuccessful. Skier 1 died of trauma. The slide broke 1-3’ deep, 150’ wide and ran a total 1,000’ vertical. The avalanche is classified SS-ASu-R3-D2.5-O.

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