Man killed in PL avalanche

PRIEST LAKE — Following a Colbert, Wash., snowmobiler’s death Friday, rescuers who know the popular Trapper Creek drainage north of Priest Lake can only speculate why he ventured near a vertical slope and was killed in an avalanche.

William Robert Smith, 43, had been riding with his 16-year-old stepson early Friday afternoon when a slide buried the man. The Spokane boy found a safe way down and went for help, according to Mike Nielsen, commander of Priest Lake Search and Rescue Team. A group of nearby snowmobilers, two of whom have medical training, returned to the slide site.

The rescuers saw a snowmobile ski protruding from the snow and were able to use avalanche probes to find Smith buried in 3-5 feet of snow with the snowmobile on top of him. The rescuers dug Smith out but he had already passed away. Nielsen said about two hours passed between the time of the accident and when the rescuers arrived on scene.

Smith’s stepson and the pair returned to Cavanaugh Bay Resort where they were all staying and the resort owner called Nielsen. Because of safety concerns, Nielsen said recovery efforts were delayed until Saturday.

The boy told the rescuers his stepfather had started out on the slope and then stopped to put the machine in reverse but it was too late. The slide cut loose on a north-facing slope, starting at 5,400 vertical feet and ending at about 5,055 feet. The slide was about 250 yards wide by 250 yards long.

According to Nielsen there are three routes into the area, two on the valley floor and one on the high ridge where Smith went off. Nielsen said it is possible Smith became confused because the route is not a regular one.

Neither the boy nor his stepfather was wearing an avalanche transceiver. The U.S. Forest Service’s Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center had issued an advisory Friday stating avalanche danger was “considerable.”

“Our best riders would not have dropped off that high ridge route. If he was familiar with it, it was not the place you would have normally gone,” Nielsen said. “February and March are notoriously the worst months for avalanches.”