Top avalanche toll: snowmobilers

JACKSON, Wyo. — Thirteen of the 26 avalanche deaths recorded in North America this past winter season were snowmobilers, the first time since record keeping began in 1950 that the number of snowmobilers killed in slides exceeded the number of skier and snowboarder avalanche deaths.

According to statistics provided by the Westside Avalanche Network, 11 of the 26 avalanche fatalities in the United States and Canada during the 2006-07 winter season were skiers. The other two were a climber and a snowshoer.

During the 2005-06 winter, 12 out of 32 total fatalities were snowmobilers; there were only nine snowmobile deaths during the 2004-05 winter.

Bob Comey, Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center forecaster, said the main factor in the rising percentage of snowmobiler deaths was larger, more powerful machines that allow riders to access more difficult terrain. At the same time, a rise in rider numbers is generally accompanied by an increase in riders who lack avalanche survival knowledge.

"The terrain around the greater Yellowstone area is great for riding, and people are going for it," Comey said. "Some are educated and prepared, and some aren't."

In addition, thin snow conditions prevalent in some areas this winter were a recipe for an unstable snowpack.

Avalanche educator and forecaster Jill Fredston said that the majority of avalanches triggered by snowmobile riders occur when riders are "high marking," or driving their machines up the slope to see how high they can go.

"This is a classic year the West has had, because a lack of snow breeds anxious backcountry travelers," she said. "The machines getting more powerful is really the essence of the issue. I think we have a long ways to go with the snowmobiling education, and there's ways to build it into the industry, but the education is happening."

Fredston said that while she has dug the bodies of first-time riders out of avalanches, she dislikes the stereotype that snowmobilers are willfully reckless backcountry travelers.

"I ignore the distinction between different user groups," she said. "Twenty-five years ago we were training guides and climbers, and they caught up. Then it was backcountry skiers, while this is the new wave we're trying to get caught up."