Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center (NWAC) — Northwest Avalanche Accident Summaries

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Northwest Avalanche Accident Summaries, 1998-2013

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2012 / 2013 Accident Summaries
Date	Location	Incident Description	Submitted By	Link
4/13/2013	Gemini, Stevens Pass Ski Area, WA	Two snowboarders caught, one partly buried	Patty Morrison & Garth Ferber
1/15/2013	Chair Peak, Snoqualmie Pass, WA	Two climbers caught, one injured	Chris Simmons & Garth Ferber
12/18/2012	Crystal Mt, south central WA Cascades	Three skiers caught, one completely buried	Crystal Mountain Ski Patrol & Garth Ferber
11/12/2012	Washington Pass, northern WA Cascades, WA	Two snowmobiles caught and buried or partially buried, one snowmobiler caught and partially buried	Dennis D'Amico & others

2011 / 2012 Accident Summaries
Date	Location	Incident Description	Submitted By	Link
2/19/2012	WAC Bluff area, east of Alpental Ski Area, central WA Cascades, WA	Three snowboarders entered the 80s chute in the back country to the east of Alpental Ski Area, and triggered a slide. The slide caught two, one of whom was able to self arrest. The other boarder was carried over a steep cliffy chute and died from trauma.	Aaron Opp (Alpental Professional Patrol) and Mark Moore (NWAC)
2/19/2012	Tunnel Creek drainage just west of Stevens Pass Mountain Resort, north-central WA Cascades, WA	Four skiers triggered and caught by 2-3 ft slab while skiing the Tunnel Creek back country off Cowboy Mt to the SSW of the ski area. Three buried and killed (combination of trauma and suffocation), one survived with air bag deployed.	PattyMorrison and Jamie Owens (Stevens Pass Pro Patrol) and Mark Moore (NWAC)
2/19/2012	Union Creek Basin, Back country east of Crystal Mt Resort, south-central WA Cascades	Three skiers triggered and caught by slide, two partially buried and one totally buried. One of the partially buried skiers able to self extricate and with help of other partially buried skier, able to locate totally buried skier with probe. Rapid recovery resulted in no physical injuries.	Zeno Martin and Pamela Baker
2/19/2012	Dogleg Peak, Crystal Mt Back Country, south-central WA Cascades	Solo skier caught, stopped by tree, and partially buried; able to self-extricate but suffered life-threatening injuries	Chris Morin (Snow Safety, Crystal Mountain Pro Patrol)
1/21/2012	Alpental Ski Area Back Country,central WA Cascades	Three skiers caught and partially buried by slide; all victims able to self-extricate with no injuries reported (some lost equipment)	Patrick Brewer
1/1/2012	Northern approach to Scout Patrol Peak, central WA Cascades about 7 miles SW of Snoqualmie Pass	2 snowshoers triggered and caught by 12-18 inch wind slab, & carried about 300 ft, fortunately sustaining only minor bruises	Brian Kraai, Craig Willis (and Mark Moore-NWAC)

2010 / 2011 Accident Summaries
Date	Location	Incident Description	Submitted By	Link
4/6/2011	Phantom path on Mt Snoqualmie, central WA Cascades just north of Snoqualmie Pass, WA	Party of five triggered 1.5-2 ft slab; slab catches and injures two seriously, one with minor injuries	Marcus Engley (TAY moderator) Dan, Drew, Doug & Roger; Mark Moore (NWAC)
4/3/2011	South of Stevens Pass on Rooster Comb Ridge, north-central WA Cascades	Two snowboarders triggered and were caught by cornice collapse, which triggered a loose slide on the slope below. One not buried with arm inury, one partially buried and dug out by companion, uninjured	Patty Morrison (Stevens Pass Snow Safety) and Mark Moore (NWAC)
3/27/2011	Backside of Cowboy Mt toward Tunnel Ck, west of Stevens Pass Ski Area, north central WA Cascades	Snowboarder triggered and caught by wet loose slide, swept into tree band and fatally injured. Found quickly by party members but failed to respond to CPR.	Patty Morrison (Stevens Pass Snow Safety) and Mark Moore (NWAC)
3/23/2011	NW shoulder of Chair Pk above Snow Lake near Snoqualmie Pass, central WA Cascades	1 BC skier triggered and caught by hard wind slab, fortunately uninjured	Robert Hahn
3/5/2011	Hooky Bowl on Trout Ck drainage, near Mt Cashmere, east slopes central WA Cascades	1 BC skier in a group of 5 triggered and caught by slide, carried through trees and fatally injured. Found deceased on the surface by party members.	Chris Hunter--Stevens Pass Pro Patrol and Mark Moore, NWAC
3/4/2011	Grouse Ridge on the WNW flanks of Mt Baker, northern WA Cascades	1 snowboarder triggered and caught by large slab; victim carried into trees, seriously injured and totally buried; recovered within 5-6 minutes by beacon search	Jeff Hambelton (Mt Baker Pro Patrol), Patrick Kennedy (witness), & Mark Moore, NWAC
2/29/2011	Mt Hood Meadows, Private Reserve area, Mt Hood, OR	One off-duty patroller caught, buried with a hand and ski exposed, and recovered within 5 minutes unharmed	Joe Sillman, Mt Hood Meadows Patrol and Mark Moore, NWAC
2/1/2011	Red Mtn, central WA Cascades just north of Snoqualmie Pass, WA	Solo BC skier triggered cornice collapse and was caught, buried and killed by susequent fall and loose avalanche	Bram Thrift, Alpental Professional Patrol and BARK
12/4/2010	Morning Star Peak, north-central WA Cascades	One hiker/climber caught, partially buried and killed; dog recovered alive	Oyvind Henningsen (Everett Mtn Rescue)

2009 / 2010 Accident Summaries
Date	Location	Incident Description	Submitted By	Link
4/9/2010	Kendall Peak near Snoqualmie Pass, central WA Cascades	Two skiers caught and partially buried, 1 slightly injured, 1 critically injured	Dan Otter
4/3/2010	Back country near Mission Ridge Ski Area; east slopes central WA Cascades	Two snowboarders triggered and caught by small slide; two partially buried, 1 injury	Taylor Everett (Mission Ridge Ski Patrol) and NWAC
3/27/2010	Back country near Crystal Mtn Ski Area; south-central WA Cascades	Victim statment about the 2/28/10 avalanche accident	Mark Callaghan
3/13/2010	Mission Ridge ski area--Microwave tower; east slopes central WA Cascades	Skier triggered wind slab caught 2, partially burying one; no injuries reported	Andrew Hyer
2/28/2010	Near Threeway Peak, Back country near Crystal Mt, south-central WA Cascades	Solo skier tirggered and caught by avalanche in BC to south of ski area boundary. Swept through trees and buried to neck. Able to call patrol via cell phone for rescue	Crystal Mt Professinal Ski Patrol (Ben Wright, Paul Baugher, Chet Mobray) and NWAC
1/2/2010	Paulina Peak, central OR Cascades	One solo snowmobiler caught, buried and killed. Found through spot probing by eyewitnesses in the vicinity.	Three Sisters BackCountry staff and NWAC

2008 / 2009 Accident Summaries
Date	Location	Incident Description	Submitted By	Link
3/7/2009	Aneroid Basin, Wallowa Mountains, NE Oregon	Three skiers caught, two totally buried and one partially buried. One skier recovered alive after ~10 minutes, one found dead after ~30 minutes	Roger Averbeck
2/25/2009	Hogsback Mtn, south-central WA Cascades	One skier caught and completely buried under ~2.5 ft of snow. Found by partner's beacon and recovered within about 10 minutes.	NWAC
12/30/2008	Rockford, WA--eastern WA	Resident caught, buried and killed by roof avalanche while shoveling walk and clearing roof	NWAC
12/28/2008	Tatie Peak, near Harts Pass, northern WA Cascades	One snowmobiler caught, buried and killed while high-marking NE exposure slope approximately 6500 ft level	Larry Goldie, Mark Moore

2007/ 2008 Accident Summaries
Date	Location	Incident Description/Summary	Submitted By	Link
2/7/2008	Kahler Glen, north-central Washington Cascades near Lake Wenatchee, WA	A large natural avalanche released during the late afternoon of February 7, impacting and mostly destroying a home in the Kahler Glen development just above and west of the Kahler Glen Golf Course	Mark Moore--NWAC, Mike & Joanne Stanford and John Meriwether
1/4/2008	Lake Twenty-two trail near Mt Pilchuck, north-central WA Cascades	Group of seven young hikers and one adult were descending the Lake Twenty-two trail when four of the party were caught by an avalanche. The slide partially buried one and totally buried three. Two buried victims were quickly found by spot probing and survived; unfortunately the one fatality was buried more deeply near a tree and was not recovered until later by a rescue team.	Mark Moore--NWAC, Oyvind Henningsen and Everett Mountain Rescue
1/1/2008	Excelsior Pass below Church Mt,, northern WA Cascades	Group of five snowmobilers high marking in the Excelsior Pass area triggered a large 5-7 ft deep slab. The avalanche caught five, partly burying one, totally burying and killing two. Victims reportedly found by beacon and probing under three and six feet of snow--one machine was reported reduced to pieces.	Mark Moore--NWAC and Bellingham Mountain Rescue
12/18/2007	Edit Ck Basin, Mt Rainier National Park, WA	Two snowshoers departed on hike to Camp Muir on morning of 12/18/07. Encountering deteriorating weather conditions they turned around, with victim triggering slab near top of Edith Creek Basin. Victim caught and totally buried, found by probing on 12/21, under ~6-10 ft of snow.	Mt Rainier National Park Chris Morin
12/1-2/2007	Union Creek, south-central WA Cascades, northeast of Crystal Mt, WA	Three snowboarders departed on weekend trip on 11/30/2007. Reported missing on 12/2/07. Subsequent searches on ground and air found no evidence of any of the group. Official search abandoned 12/8/07. Final Search and Recovery effort concluded late June, 2008 when the three missing snowboarders were found buried in avalanche debris in Union Creek.	Paul Baugher & Chris Morin, Crystal Mt Ski Patrol and Mark Moore, NWAC
12/2/2007	Northway at Crystal Mt Resort, WA	Two ski patrollers caught, 1 totally buried, 1 mostly buried and able to self extricate--found and rescued partner; south-central Washington Cascades at Crystal Mountain Resort, WA	Paul Baugher
12/2/2007	Snow/Source Lake Trail, near Snoqualmie Pass, WA; central WA Cascades	Three hikers caught, 1 partly buried, injured & self rescued, 2 completely buried and killed, central Washington Cascades near Snoqualmie Pass, WA. Party was returning from Snow Lake Ridge toward Source Lake when they triggered the avalanche.	Rob Gibson, Mark Moore

2006 / 2007 Accident Summaries
Date	Location	Incident Description	Submitted By	Link
2/25/2007	Clark Canyon, Mt Hood Meadows Ski Area, northern OR Cascades	Two skiers caught, 1 partly buried & self rescued, 1 completely buried and rescued by companions within ~10 minutes, northern Oregon Cascades	Tighe Stoyanoff, Adam Wagner, Mark Moore
2/24/2007	Park Place path, west of Crystal Mtn, WA; south-central WA Cascades	One skier caught, buried and killed in Park Place avalanche path, within Mt Rainier National Park just west of Crystal Mountain Ski Area boundary, south-central Washington Cascades	Paul Baugher, Chet Mowbray, Ben Wright, Mark Moore

2005 / 2006 Accident Summaries
Date	Location	Incident Description	Submitted By	Link
4/18/2006	Mt Hermann, near Mt Baker ski area; northern WA Cascades	One skier caught and killed in Stoneman's chute off Mt Hermann near Mt Baker	Kenny Kramer, Mark Moore, Herb Long, Duncan Howat
3/19/2006	Tiffany Mt near Conconully,WA; east slopes northern WA Cascades	Two snomobilers caught, one partly buried and injured, one buried and killed	Larry Goldie, Mark Moore
1/16/2006	Terrible Traverse near Mt Hood; northern OR Cascades	Three skiers caught and partly buried	Jim Minick
11/08/2005	OB near Chair 6 at Mt Baker; northern WA Cascades	One snowboarder caught and totally buried; found alive by beacon after ~15 minutes	Mark Moore (NWAC)
11/05/2005	Table Mountain near Mt Baker; northern WA Cascades	One snowboarder caught and totally buried; found alive by beacon after ~15 minutes	Mark Moore, Andy Sahlfeld, Matt Bowen

2004 / 2005 Accident Summaries
Date	Location	Incident Description	Submitted By	Link
1/12/2005	Alpental Ski Area, Snoqualmie Pass--central WA Cascades	Two skiers caught and buried/partially buried-- one killed and one self rescued	Garth Ferber
10/24/2004	Mt Rainier--Ingraham Glacier; south central WA Cascades	Two climbers caught and buried -- one killed and one self rescued	Glenn Kessler

2003 / 2004 Accident Summaries
Date	Location	Incident Description	Submitted By	Link
6/13/2004	Mt Rainier--Liberty Ridge; south-central WA Cascades	Two climbers caught, buried and killed	Glenn Kessler
4/26/2004	Mt Baker; northern WA Cascades	Snowboarder caught and killed in small slide	NWAC
3/7/2004	Crystal Mtn (Morse Ck); south-central WA Cascades	Two skiers partially buried -- both dug themselves out	Corey Meador
3/5-3/6/2004	Crystal Springs Snowpark near Stampede Pass, central WA Cascades; & Salmon la Sac, east of Snoqualmie Pass, central WA Cascades	Two separate snowmobiling accidents involving highmarking; one resulting in two injured and one resulting in a fatality	NWAC
1/31/2004	Lake Ann, Alpine Lks; central WA Cascades	Two snowmobilers completely buried and rescued	Stephen Carter
12/172003	Blewett Pass, Navajo Peak; east slopes central WA Cascades	One snowmobiler caught, buried and killed	Mark Moore Taylor Everett
12/13/2003	Snoqualmie Pass; central WA Cascades	One snowshoer caught, buried and killed. Victim found 12/20/03	Jon Barker Paul Schuster
12/12/2003	Mt Baker; northern WA Cascades	3 completely buried, 2 recovered alive (after ~24 hour burial), 1 fatality	Garth Ferber Mark Moore

2002 / 2003 Accident Summaries
Date	Location	Incident Description	Submitted By	Link
3/292003	Granite Mtn Snoqualmie Pass	1 skier caught, partly buried, seriously injured	Garth Ferber
3/72003	Mt Hood Meadows	1 snowboarder caught, completely buried, and recovered alive by beacon within about 20 minutes	Asa Mueller
1/12/003	Golden Gate Tr Paradise MRNP	2 snowshoers caught, partially buried and dug out	Dan Van Cise MRNP
12/29/2002	Cement Basin Crystal Mtn Area	Party of seven caught, three partially buried, one totally buried, Overall one dead, one injured	Mark Moore Paul Baugher Dan Hudson

2001 / 2002 Accident Summaries
Date	Location	Incident Description	Submitted By	Link
3/102002	Granite Mtn Snoqualmie Pass	2 skiers out; 1 caught and buried; rescued	John Stimberis
1/272002	Gold Creek Snoqualmie Pass	1 snowshoer caught, buried and rescued by own dog	John Stimberis
1/242002	Source Lake Snoqualmie Pass	2 overnight campers caught while in tent, both self-rescued without major injuries	John Stimberis
1/202002	Tunnel Creek Stevens Pass	Group of snowboarders caught and carried; one injured and evacuated by others	Evan Woods
1/212002	Skyline Ridge Stevens Pass	5 Skiers and snowboarders caught; four partial burials and one complete burial; two injuries	Shane West
11/242001	Paradise MRNP	Two boarders, one caught and completely buried; rescued by partner	Luke Edgar

2000 / 2001 Accident Summaries
Date	Location	Incident Description	Submitted By	Link
4/112001	Mt Baker	One snowmobiler caught, buried and killed	Brandon Weathermon
2/172001	Lake Ann	One snowmobiler caught, buried and killed	John Stimberis
2/172001	Crystal Mtn	One out of bounds skier triggered and caught by slide, swept through trees, partially buried and injured—fractured arm (radius) and fractured jaw.	Chet Mowbray
2/32001	Crystal Mtn	One professional ski patroller caught, swept through trees and partially buried, minor injuries	Brent Okita
1/292001	Twin Lakes (Stevens Pass)	Two snowshoers caught, one partially buried, one completely buried, one killed; one buried and presumed dead	Joanne Stanford
1/302001	Alpental Ski Area	One Professional Patroller caught, totally buried and rescued	Rob Gibson

1999 / 2000 Accident Summaries
Date	Location	Incident Description	Submitted By	Link
2/2/2000	Government Meadows, Central WA Cascades	Two snowmobilers caught and totally buried. One self recued after 1/2 hour; second rescued after 5 hours with injuries	NWAC and Doug Blanchard
1/19/2000	Mt Herman, northern WA Cascades	One skier/photographer caught, partly buried, and recovered by party members. Having sustained serious injuries, victim was airlifted from area by Army rescue helicopter.	Mark Moore and Josh Evans, Mt Baker Pro Patrol
1/16/2000	East Peak area to east of Crystal Mtn, South Central WA Cascades	One skier triggered and caught by 2-3 ft slab, partly buried after 1400 ft ride. Ski area employee heard his cries for help and responded, transporting victim part way to base. Subsequent ski area rescue team met injured victim and transported to base.	Chet Mobray (Crystal Mtn Pro Patrol) and Mark Moore
1/16/2000	Crystal Mtn Resort (closed area)	Two skiers hiked into upper part of closed ski area; one skier triggered and was caught by 2-4 ft slab, swept about 1000 vertical feet and totally buried. Rescue team dispatched by ski resort; victim (no beacon) was found by dogs after ~ two hours, pronounced dead at the scene.	Paul Baugher (Crystal Mtn Pro Patrol Director) and Mark Moore

1998/ 1999 Accident Summaries
Date	Location	Incident Description	Submitted By	Link
2/14/1999	Shuksan Arm near Mt Baker Ski Area, Northern WA Cascades	One snowboarder and one skier caught, buried and killed by large 12-15 ft slab in Rumble Gulley, just east of the Mt Baker Ski Area within the Shuksan Arm Wilderness	Brandon Weathermon (Mt Baker Pro Patrol Director) and Mark Moore, NWAC
1998-99 Accident Summary	Northwest US	Accident Summaries for 1998-99 NW avalanche incidents	Mark Moore, NWAC

1997/ 1998 Accident Summaries
Date	Location	Incident Description	Submitted By	Link
1/18/1998	Lion Rock near Blewett Pass, central WA Cascades	One snowmobiler caught, buried and killed. Snowmobiler got stuck while highmarking on steep slope near Lion Rock. While attempting to turn his machine around, slope released above him, catching him and his machine, carrying them about 500 vertical ft and burying them under 2-3 feet of snow. Victim located following day through coarse probing	Mark Moore, NWAC
5/31/1998	Mt Hood, OR	Three climbers on the West Crater Rim Route on the south side of Mt Hood were caught by slide and swept about 1000 vertical ft. Two of the climbers were partially buried and seriously injured, one was totally buried and subsequently found dead by coarse probing under about 4.5 ft of snow..	Glenn Kessler, USFS Climbing Ranger and NWAC

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Northwest Avalanche Accident Summaries, 1998-2013