Close Call On Christmas Eve When Two Snowmobilers Survived An Avalanche In Horseshoe Bowl On Teton Pass
Two lucky snowmobilers survived being buried in a massive avalanche for hours in Horseshoe Bowl on Teton Pass on Christmas Eve. Both snowmobilers survived the avalanche and self rescued.
On December 24, 2015, Mikey Soderling and his girlfriend Anna Pantone went for a ride near Ski Lake on Teton Pass – despite the “High” avalanche danger. According to JHNewsAndGuide.com, at about 1:30 PM, they stopped at the bottom of Horseshoe Bowl – about 300 yards from the face – when they remotely triggered a massive avalanche.
See Photos Of Horseshoe Bowl And Other Teton Pass Terrain In The Jackson Hole Ski Atlas
Soderling was buried about 3-feet deep, but had an air pocket. After about half an hour he was able to call out and got a response from Pantone, who was “partially buried, was seriously injured and starting to become hypothermic.”
It took Soderling 3-hours to get out of the snow. He immediately dug Pantone out. After digging his sled out, he drove Pantone to the trailhead. He then drove her to St. John’s Medical Center where she underwent surgery for a broken femur. When they arrived “nearly four hours had passed since the slide.”
In the article from JHNewsAndGuide.com, Soderling said that the entire bowl slid to the sagebrush. He was keen to caution other backcountry travelers and his words of advice to backcountry travelers included, “Don’t bank on a Christmas miracle.”
Glad everyone made it out alive.
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Read more about the avalanche in Horseshoe Bowl from these sources:
- JHNewsAndGuide.com
- KULR8.com
