Avalanche On Kebler Pass West Of Crested Butte Kills Snowmobiler
Crested Butte, Colorado – At 13:45 on Thursday, January 21, 2016 Daniel Bradley Sethness, 32, died in an avalanche while snowmobiling in Ruby Bowl on the southeast shoulder of Ruby Peak in the Ruby Range in the Crested Butte backcountry of Colorado.
A group of snowmobilers were riding in the area near Kebler Pass. According to Avalanche.org, “the victim and a friend were riding “Canadian” tandem, side-by-side,” when they unintentionally triggered a large soft slab avalanche. WestElkProject.com writes that Sethness, aka B-Rad, was caught in the slide while riding underneath the slope.
Sethness was buried under the avalanche debris in a tree well. He was found and extricated by members of his group and members of Irwin Guides. He was resuscitated at the scene and evacuated to Gunnison Valley Hospital where he died on Thursday night.
According to the CAIC’s report written by avalanche forecaster Brian Lazar, the avalanche failed on a layer of facets approximately 3 feet deep. The avalanche was 500′ wide by 250′ vertical feet long. It occurred on a 32 to 42 degree convex slope on an east-southeast aspect at 11,000′ near treeline. The avalanche was rated R3, D2. The avalanche danger at the time of the incident was considerable.
This avalanche fatality took place on the same day as an avalanche claimed the life of Douglas Green on Gobblers Knob in Utah. It is the second avalanche fatality in Colorado for the 2015/2016 winter. A solo hiker/climber died in an avalanche on St. Mary’s Glacier, Colorado on January 16, 2016.
We will try to update this post as more information becomes available.
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Read more about the avalanche fatality on Kebler Pass in Crested Butte, Colorado from these sources:
- Avalanche.org
- WestElkProject.com
- CAIC Avalanche Incident Report
- Crested Butte Avalanche Center
- DenverPost.com
- Denver.CBSLocal.com
- Avalanche.org
