Cooper Landing, Alaska – On Saturday, January 28, 2017 Tyler Kloos was caught, buried, and killed in an avalanche while snowmobiling approximately 2 miles from the Snug Harbor Trailhead near Cooper Landing in Alaska.
Kloos was snowmobiling with Bryant Evans when the avalanche occurred. Evans witnessed the slide. He and others in the area initiated a rescue. They managed to locate Kloos quickly using avalanche beacons, dug him out, and initiated CPR.
Search and Rescue reached the site just after 3pm. Kloos was transported by helicopter to Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna. Unfortunately, Kloos did not survive.
On January 29, 2017, the CNFAIC.org confirmed this fatality and issued a special announcement that stated, “The Southern Kenai Mountains, including Snug Harbor and Lost Lake zones have dangerous avalanche conditions. This region is out of the advisory area but received 3-5+ feet of snow in the past week and several avalanches have been observed.“
At this point, limited details about this avalanche exist. We will update this post when more information is available.
This is the 7th avalanche fatality in the US during the 2016/2017 winter season:
- 5 January 2017 – Stanton Mountain, Montana – 1
- 4 January 2017 – Crystal Mountain, Washington – 1
- 27 December 2016 – White Pass, Washington – 1
- 23 December 2016 – Grand Targhee Backcountry, Wyoming – 1
- 11 December 2016 – Henderson Mountain, Montana – 1
- 10 December 2016 – Mt. Rose, Nevada – 1
