Avalanche Near Swede Creek In The Whitefish Range of Montana Kills Snowmobiler
Whitefish Range, Montana – On Saturday, January 23, 2016 Geoffrey Richard Caldbeck, 33, from Kalispell, Montana died while snowmobiling when his group triggered an avalanche near Swede Creek in the Whitefish Range near Olney, Montana.
Three snowmobilers were riding in the area when the second snowmobiler riding down the slope triggered the avalanche. Two snowmobilers were buried. One was able to dig himself out and conduct an avalanche beacon search with the third member of the party.
Upon finding and extricating the victim, survivors attempted resuscitation efforts, but they were unsuccessful. Due to weather conditions and time of day, the body was recovered by helicopter on Sunday 1/24.
The Flathead Avalanche Center posted that the avalanche was 200 feet wide and ran 200 vertical feet. The crown depth ranged from 2.5 to 5 feet and the debris accumulated in a gully at the bottom of a 35 degree slope. The avalanche occurred on a SouthEast, cross-loaded slope. It slid on a weak faceted layer of snow beneath the January 12th rain crust.
At the time of the accident, the Flathead Avalanche Center Advisory on January 23, 2016 rated the danger as considerable above 6000′, considerable between 5000-6000′, and moderate between 3500-5000′.
The Flathead Avalanche Center will conduct a full avalanche accident investigation report later this week.
We will try to update this post as more information becomes available.
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Read more about the avalanche fatality in the Whitefish Range of Montana from these sources:
- The Missoulian
- Flathead Avalanche Center
- Flathead Avalanche Center Advisory – January 23, 2016
- Avalanche.org Accident Report
- FlatheadBeacon.com
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