The weekend avalanche at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Wyoming severely damaged a restaurant.
The snow slide, which was triggered by a ski patroller, piled up around the Bridger Restaurant building at the top of a gondola lift.
The snow broke through doors and plowed through tables and chairs inside the building.
Outside, the avalanche trapped five members of the resort's ski patrol who were quickly dug out, and were not hurt.
(from December 29, 2008)
There are some additional details being released about an avalanche that killed one man at the Jackson Hole Ski Resort in Wyoming over the weekend.
Resort spokeswoman Anna Olson said that ski patrol members found David Nodine, 31, of Wilson about 200 yards downhill, buried under eight feet of snow.
The avalanche happened in the resort area located just south of Grand Teton National Park. Nodine was skiing the upper mountain with a companion down an expert trail named Paintbrush.
Witnesses saw the two land safely below a cliff, but then the slope they were on failed and they were swept down.
Olson says they found Nodine within six minutes by honing in on signals from a transceiver he was wearing. Authorities say Nodine was uncovered within 10 minutes.
Nodine couldn't be revived and was pronounced dead at the Teton Village Clinic at the base of the resort.
His companion was also caught by the avalanche but was not buried or hurt.
The National Weather service reports the Tetons has received about five feet of snow in five days.
Officials say the ski patrol had taken normal precautions to reduce avalanche danger in the area before opening it to the public.
This marks the sixth avalanche death in North America this season.
Meanwhile, authorities fear the worst has happened to a group of snowmobilers hit by an avalanche in southeastern British Columbia.
Eight people are missing, with some thought to be dead. Three others survived.
(KTVQ Archives, December 27, 2008)
The Jackson Hole Ski Resort, located just south of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, has confirmed that there was an avalanche on the ski run today.
Details remain sketchy at this point but unofficial sources tell us at least two substantial in-bounds avalanches occurred at the resort.
One happened in the Alta 2 area, and a larger slide occurred in the Tower 3/Toilet Bowl area below the Thunder Lift.
There is word that 2 people were caught in the Tower 3 slide. There appears to be one fatality: a 31-year old local who was found about 10 minutes after the avalanche and was buried under eight feet of debris. One survivor was buried up to their neck.
Numerous avalanche warnings are in effect throughout Montana and Wyoming. A backcountry avalanche warning is in effect for the southern Gallatin and southern Madison ranges, the Lionhead area near West Yellowstone, the mountains around Cooke City, and the Washburn range in northern Yellowstone National Park.
The Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center says significant amounts of wind-driven snow were deposited the previous two days on an extremely weak snow-pack. The center says a high avalanche danger exists on all slopes; and that natural and human- triggered avalanches are likely. The center warns that avalanche terrain, including avalanche run-out zones, should be avoided.
