Updated: 1:31 PM PST, February 08, 2021
Fourteen people have died in the U.S. in avalanches in just the last week, the most in any seven-day period in more than a century, CBS News reported.
A massive avalanche in Utah’s Millcreek Canyon killed four skiers and left four scrambling for help Saturday, officials said. The Unified Police Department identified the four victims who did not survive the incident as Sarah Moughamian, 29, Louis Holian, 26, Stephanie Hopkins, 26, and Thomas Louis Steinbrecher, 23.
“We had two groups of individuals — one group from Big Cottonwood, one group from Millcreek,” Wayne Bassham, commander for Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, told KSL TV. “Apparently, they did not know each other; they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Sarah Moughamian was one of four skiers killed in Saturday's Mill Creek avalanche in Utah.(Facebook)
Army Ranger Matthew Nyman survived a helicopter crash in Iraq that crushed his foot but he learned to climb again, most recently on Alaska's Bear Mountain.
Mr Jessen, Ms Moughamian and Mr Nyman are just three of the 14 people who've died in avalanches since February 1.
READ MORE:
The bodies of three skiers have been found.(Office of Emergency Management, San Juan County)
It's the highest number of avalanche deaths recorded in a seven-day period since the US Forest Service's National Avalanche Centre started tracking deaths, according to Karl Birkeland, the centre's director.
At least 15 people died in avalanches last week, the deadliest week of US avalanches on record krdo.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from krdo.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
If it seems like you've been reading about avalanches more than usual lately, you're not wrong. The US has recorded 15 fatalities in the last week, the most in a seven-day...
Colorado recorded three backcountry avalanche deaths last Friday and Saturday, which naturally made folks wonder if the COVID-inspired touring gear sales boom was already contributing to a prophesied uptick in avalanche deaths.
It’s not. It’s good policy not to weigh in on the specifics of avalanche accidents like slope angle, decision making, and cause of death until local avalanche centers and coroners compile their reports, and we’ll honor that here. But we know enough—and my reporting backs this up—to discard the premise that the Colorado victims were newbies. It would be hard to find three backcountry skiers with more experience.
BOZEMAN, Mont.
Ben Werner glided up the craggy mountain bowl between Hardscrabble Peak and Frazier Basin in the Bridgers, his heels lifting off his skis with every step. He paused periodically to assess his route up the slope.
Before Werner ascended the bowl, he tested the snowâs stability on a small hill with a similar slant and aspect. He directed his skis toward the hillside and coasted along, looking around for any signs of cracks or slides. The snow held. He continued his path upward.
In backcountry skiing, deciding where to climb up or ski down a slope can be the difference between life and death. And the mountains are deceiving.