Jan. 6 (UPI) — One person is dead and another injured after they became buried by an avalanche over the weekend in Wyoming, authorities said.
The Teton County Search and Rescue said in a statement that it was notified of the avalanche burial near Grand Teton National Park in an iPhone satellite text-to-911 call before noon Saturday.
It said a group of four skiers had triggered the avalanche in the Breccia Cliffs as they were ascending a so-called skin track.
“The avalanche partially buried one skier and fully buried another. The partially buried skier sustained a lower leg injury,” it said.
Difficult conditions hindered the rescue operation. TCSR stated a helicopter deployed for the effort, as well as a snowmobile team, were unable to reach the group of skiers due to the weather.
A team of skiers managed to reach the distressed party shortly before 4 p.m. They immediately applied treatment to the injured skier.
“The volunteers also worked to begin recovering the deceased skier for transport out of the backcountry,” it said.
The deceased skier was eventually skied out using a sked, it added.
“This serves as an important reminder of how much longer a mission can take when the helicopter is grounded, and is another factor to consider in your backcountry planning should an accident occur,” the TCSR said.
