Avalanche kills local man

Attempts to resuscitate a 49-year-old Libby man buried when a wall of snow cascaded down upon him and a companion Saturday afternoon were unsuccessful, reminding Lincoln County residents of the dangers of back-country travels.

Bryan Harlow, 49, was snowmobiling Saturday with three friends when he and Todd Byington, 47, were overwhelmed by the avalanche at about 1:15 p.m., according to Jon Jeresek, Kootenai National Forest avalanche specialist.

“One of them told me they looked at his watch when they were digging to recover Harlow, and it was 1:20 p.m.,” said Jeresek, who was called to the scene.

The group of four men also included Nathan Schwegel, 33, and Jesse Mugford, 27. Schwegel and Mugford were not overcome by the onrushing wall of the avalanche. All men are from Libby.

“They were trying to get away from it,” Jeresek said. “However, an avalanche like that is pretty difficult to outrun. It would be coming down at them anywhere from 60 to 80 mph.”

The men were riding their snowmobiles about two miles north of Spar Peak, which is about 17 miles southwest of Troy, in the West Cabinet Range near the Idaho border.

It was Schwegel who called 911, a call that was transferred to Lincoln County Dispatch from where it was received in Idaho.

According to the Sheriff’s Office report, Schwegel told dispatch “two  snowmobilers in the party had been caught in a back-country avalanche. One of the two avalanche victims was recovered. The other was recovered but was not breathing and the other two men were performing CPR.” Schwegel said he had to ride his snowmobile about two miles from the avalanche site to obtain cell-phone reception. The cell-phone signal was used to assist with pinpointing the location of the avalanche. Schwegel’s call was received by the Lincoln County Dispatch at 2:04 p.m. Saturday.

David Thompson Search & Rescue responded. The Alert helicopter crew of Kalispell also responded. The Air-One helicopter from Two Bear Air of Kalispell also was summoned.

Sheriff’s Office Detective Nate Scofield responded along with Jeresek, representing the Flathead Avalanche Center. U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officers also were on hand. All responders met at a staging and parking area well away from the remote avalanche site.

The Alert helicopter arrived at the avalanche site first and reported that there was no location to land near the area. The Air-One rescue helicopter arrived next, at about 4 p.m. and was able to lift Harlow from the scene.

Investigators learned that the snowmobilers had stopped in a low-lying area within trees and were not moving at the time that the avalanche occurred. The men attempted to move clear of the avalanche, but Harlow and Byington were caught in the avalanche.

When the avalanche ceased, Schwegel and Mugford were able to hear Byington yelling, finding him buried with only his face exposed.

Then, they used Byington’s avalanche beacon to locate Harlow’s beacon signal. They dug down and found Harlow buried under four to six feet of compacted snow.

Harlow was not breathing, and Byington and Mugford began CPR as Schwegel rode his snowmobile out of the area to find a cell-phone signal. Byington and Mugford were unsuccessful in their attempts to revive Harlow.

Jeresek said rescuers were able to recover Byington’s snowmobile, as the ski loop was visible from under the compacted snow. Harlow’s snowmobile was not recovered.

An on-site investigation was not possible because of the high avalanche hazard in the area. Investigators conducted an aerial survey of the scene aboard the Air-One helicopter. Jeresek classified the movement as a D3-sized avalanche, which means that it was a soft-slab avalanche.

Bowe said while the investigation still is ongoing, preliminary reports are the avalanche was “human-caused.”

“It can be dangerous in the back-country,” Bowe said. “We have fresh snow on top of hoar frost, which can make for slippery situations. Sometimes, it doesn’t take a lot to get the fresher snow on top to slide on the more slippery icy crust.”

A U.S. Forest Service statement Monday warned that avalanche conditions remain high in the area.