NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

INCIDENTS

Grand Teton NP

Backcountry Skier Dies In Avalanche On South Teton

A backcountry skier triggered an avalanche on the South Teton that swept him to his death on the morning of Sunday, February 21st. W.L., 30, of Driggs, Idaho, skied with two companions to the summit of the South Teton via Garnet Canyon and the Northwest Couloir early Sunday morning. They were descending the southeast face of the peak when W.L. set off a two-foot crown avalanche approximately 300 feet below the 12,514-foot summit. The avalanche carried W.L. over 2,000 vertical feet of slope and cliff bands before he came to a rest about a thousand feet above Lake Taminah in upper Avalanche Canyon; the avalanche debris continued about 800 feet further before stopping. W.L. and his companions were experienced with backcountry travel in the Teton Range and prepared with the appropriate equipment for a mountain excursion. W.L.'s ski companions, N.B. and B.J., made a 911 call to report the incident at 11:35 a.m., and the Teton Interagency Dispatch Center received notice from the Teton County Sheriff's Office shortly after. Park rangers immediately summoned the Teton County Search and Rescue contract helicopter to assist with the rescue operation. An aerial reconnaissance flight was conducted at 1:15 p.m. during which rangers were able to determine that W.L. was deceased, although not buried by the avalanche debris. In order to reach W.L., who was lying in an exposed avalanche-prone area, four rangers were flown via helicopter to a landing zone near Snowdrift Lake (elevation 10,006 feet) from which a recovery operation could be staged. Three Teton County Search and Rescue personnel were flown into the location, and they conducted aerial avalanche control using explosives to stabilize slopes above the route rangers intended to ski in order to reach W.L.. After the avalanche control work was completed, four rangers traversed a steep slope below an area of cliff bands and couloirs. While two rangers acted as safety spotters, watching for additional avalanche activity, two rangers prepared W.L. for aerial evacuation. W.L. was airlifted by a long-line to the valley floor at 4:45 p.m. W.L.'s two companions skied out of the backcountry on their own and the rescue personnel were evacuated by air, completing their operation at 5:30 p.m. The avalanche condition rating that day was listed as “moderate” for mid level and high elevations below 10,500 feet. The Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center does not forecast areas above 10,500 feet, and park rangers remind skiers and climbers that conditions on the higher peaks can be vastly different above the Bridger-Teton forecast zone. A moderate rating means that areas of unstable snow exist, and human triggered avalanches are possible. The general avalanche advisory warns that pockets of dense surface slab up to 30 inches deep rest upon buried surface hoar and sun crusts at the mid and upper elevations, and the possibility persists for backcountry travelers to trigger these slabs in steep, avalanche-prone terrain. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:

George Washington Memorial Parkway - Hundreds of Marine Corps veterans, military representatives, politicians, and National Park Service staff will today be attending the 65th anniversary commemoration of the flag raisings on the island of Iwo Jima during World War II.

Department of the Interior - Secretary Salazar has directed that all United States flags at Department of the Interior facilities be flown at half staff in memory of Director Sam Hamilton of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who died unexpectedly this past weekend.

Glen Canyon NRA - Tug Kangus, an aircraft pilot for Glen Canyon National Recreation Area for the past 25 years, has received the Secretary of the Interior's Award of Honor for his safety record as a National Park Service pilot. Photo.

NPS FLETC - Rangers Wendy Bredow (Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve) and Mike Ross (Yellowstone National Park) have been selected as the 2009 Law Enforcement Instructors of the Year.

To see these and other stories posted on InsideNPS (or NPS Digest, its public version), click on one or the other of the following links (please note that not all stories in the former appear in the latter):

NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index

Non-NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/

NPS serious incident submission standards can be found at the following web site: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/notify" http://inside.nps.gov/notify

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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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