Friends, family and neighbors of two Cache County men killed in an avalanche while snowmobiling Wednesday celebrated Christmas with heavy hearts.

Jesse Johnson, 23, of Hyrum, and Erik Jorgensen, 22, of Paradise, were snowmobiling on the back side of Logan Peak in an area known as Rodeo Grounds about 10:30 a.m. when they were caught in an avalanche and buried.

Rescue crews were able to locate the two men, both of whom were wearing beacons, but not in time to resuscitate them.

Craig Rasmussen, Jesse Johnson's LDS bishop, spoke with the Johnson family on Christmas and said they were doing "as well as can be expected after a shock like this."

"This was obviously very unexpected and traumatic for them," said Rasmussen, bishop of the Hyrum 5th Ward. "They're trying to work through it the best they can."

Rasmussen described Johnson as "a very active young man who loved the outdoors."

"He was very obedient, and he enjoyed life," he said.

Johnson was the oldest of five children and was attending Utah State University, Rasmussen said.

Johnson and Jorgensen were longtime friends, he said, and experienced snowmobilers.

Jorgensen was a newlywed who on Aug. 9 married Casey Murray in the Logan LDS Temple.

According to the Utah Avalanche Center, the slide that buried the two men was up to 8 feet deep and 2,000 feet wide.

"It was a nasty, hard slab consisting of both old and newer wind-deposited snow, which overloaded weak sugary or faceted layers near the ground," said avalanche forecaster Toby Weed.

Several avalanches were triggered in the backcountry on Christmas Eve by snowmobilers, skiers and snowboarders seeking untracked powder, Weed said.

The Utah Avalanche Center has rated the danger in the mountains of the entire state as "high," warning that it could rise to an extreme level if the latest winter storm produces as much snow as predicted.

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Contributing: Ben Winslow

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E-mail: jpage@desnews.com