Avalanche sweeps skier 500 yards and buries him in chest-deep snow, WY rescuers say

Two skiers set out with a goal of skiing a drainage to the north of Teton Pass in Wyoming. Instead they triggered an avalanche and had to call for rescue, officials said.

They were climbing around midday on Friday, Dec. 16, using skins attached to their skis, and crossed a southeast-facing slope on Rendezvous Peak when they triggered the avalanche, Teton County Search and Rescue said on Facebook.

One of them was swept about 500 yards down the slope. He was buried up to his chest, but kept his head and arms above the snow.

His partner helped him out, but his leg was injured in the avalanche. They called Teton County Dispatch to report the incident, but said they thought they could ski out on their own. They also unintentionally gave inaccurate location information because they believed they were in a different canyon, officials said.

About an hour later, they called back for rescue.

As clouds swirled, search and rescue sent in a helicopter with ground teams as backup in case the storms moved in.

The helicopter landed on the snow near the skiers and dropped off two rescuers equipped with skis, warm clothing, shelter tools and other overnight gear in case the helicopter couldn’t make it back in the stormy weather, officials said.

Rescuers cared for the injured skier and helped both to the landing zone. The helicopter flew both skiers and the rescuers back to the hangar in Jackson.

It was the team’s first active mission since Oct. 9.

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