Two males had been snowmobiling in the upper Trout Creek drainage. They decided to go to a slope very familiar to them. At around 11:30 they arrived at the base of the slope. They decided the more experienced of the two, who was wearing a beacon and did have a shovel, would attempt to climb the slope first. About mid way up, he got his machine stuck. He worked on it for a while, got hot and took off his helmet. While he was trying to get unstuck his partner, who had no rescue gear, climbed an adjacent slope. His intention was to get high enough on the slope in order to ride down to the stuck machine and assist in the excavation. As the witness got to the top of a bench he saw the crown start to propagate on the same slope the victim was on. The witness realized a large avalanche had been triggered. He circled back around to find no sign of the victim.

The witness rode his machine to a nearby ridge and called 911. He also flagged down 3 or 4 riders to help him with the search. They followed him back and began probing likely areas with broken branches. The witness then jumped back on his machine and climbed another ridge and flagged down two riders who had beacons, shovels, and probes. They returned to the scene and found the victim within 5-7 minutes after their arrival using their beacons. It took another 7-10 minutes to dig him out. He was buried about 4’ deep, face up, not breathing and CPR was initiated. His machine was buried as well and later located about 60’ downhill.

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Just a day after the Twin Lakes incident, three other backcountry recreationists were killed, with one very lucky recovery in the mountains above Bountiful. In the Trout Creek drainage above the Strawberry Reservoir in the Uinta Mountains, a 42 year old man triggered and was killed in a massive avalanche as he struggled to free his stuck snowmobile high on a steep slope. It was a massive avalanche, 4-8 feet deep and a quarter mile wide, which failed on the weak, faceted snow near the base of the snowpack.

Although the victim was wearing a beacon and shovel, his partner had no beacon. After failing to find any clues on the surface, he had to search for other riders in the area who could help. It took about an hour for the others to arrive and they located the victim 5-7 minutes later. He was buried about 4’ deep, face up, not breathing and CPR was initiated. His machine was buried as well and later located about 60’ downhill.