Report describes deadly Logan Peak avalanche as big, powerful

The avalanche that tragically killed two snowmobilers near Logan Peak on Christmas Eve was a very large and powerful slide that left even the most experienced backcountry recreationists with little hope of surviving, according to a report from the Utah Avalanche Center.

Erik Jorgensen, 22, of Paradise, and Jesse Ryan Johnson, 23, of Hyrum, were killed when they were engulfed by sliding snow on the East Face of Logan Peak Tuesday morning. The two friends were part of a foursome snowmobiling near the summit in an area known as the "Rodeo Grounds."

A new report from the Utah Avalanche Center on it Web site called the slide a "nasty hard slab, consisting of both old and newer wind-deposited snow." The avalanche was more than six feet deep in spots and approximately 2,000 feet wide.

One of the victims was buried 10 feet to 12 feet, according to the avalanche center. The other was found near a grove of large spruce and fir trees.

Jorgensen and Johnson were experienced snowmobilers. Both were wearing beacons which made finding them much quicker, according to authorities. Members of the Cache County Sheriff's Search and Rescue team, as well as 20 other nearby snowmobilers who used extra probes and shovels supplied at a nearby warming hut, helped search for the men. Rescuers were unable to revive them after they were found.

The avalanche center described the massive slide as a "hard slab avalanche triggered by a snowmobiler with a destructive force rating of 3 (on a 5-point scale) and a size relative to the path rating of 5."

The slide was believed to be triggered deep in the snow where the newer snow lay on top of an ice crust layer of "sugary" snow left over from a storm in November, according to the Avalanche Center.

The force of the slide damaged mature trees and "pulled most of the snow in the bowl down with it, leaving only small bushes and exposed rock still on the steep slope," the center said in its report.

E-mail: preavy@desnews.com