Trainees practice avalanche rescue

SNOWBIRD — At the word go, Jason Curry took off down the snow-covered hill. With transceiver in hand, he tracked across the slope, homing in on the signal buried in the snow.

Falling snow, wind and deep snow on the hill threatened to thwart Curry's progress.

Eventually, near the bottom of the hill, he was right on top of the signal. He began probing the snow with something akin to a tent pole, and within 4 1/2 minutes, he had touched the torso-sized target beneath the snow.

This was practice for Curry and for a dozen state employees who may one day find themselves in an avalanche. The group consisted of biologists, wildlife conservation officers and state park rangers.

Before heading to the resort, Craig Gordon, an avalanche forecaster with the Avalanche Forecast Center, gave them a talk about avalanche safety.

"The best avalanche is no avalanche at all," Gordon said.

These are the employees who spend time during all four seasons in Utah's backcountry. When an avalanche occurs, they were told, they need to be prepared to rescue one another or anyone else who may be in the backcountry.

A professional rescue team can take 30 minutes to hours to assemble and arrive at an avalanche, said Mike Morris, assistant director with the Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort Ski Patrol.

At 30 minutes, a victim's chance of survival is 22 percent. There is a 70 percent chance of surviving if victims are found within 15 minutes, he said.

With ever growing numbers of people who own equipment to get themselves farther from civilization, there is increased avalanche danger, Morris said.

In an avalanche rescue, every minute counts.

"One-third of people die of trauma (during a slide)," Morris said.

They get pummeled to death by rocks and trees. But the rest of the victims normally have a 90 percent chance of surviving if they're found within five minutes, said Curry, who is a training officer for the Davis County Search and Rescue.

"That course is great," Curry said, referring to the hill he practiced on Wednesday.

Under the snow, four beacons are buried 4 to 6 feet down. Anyone who wants to practice looking for avalanche victims can use the course at Snowbird, a similar one at the Canyons near Park City or in Big Cottonwood Canyon between Solitude and Brighton resorts.