Avalanche — Susitna Valley, Alaska

2000-12-09 · Susitna Valley, Alaska

Event narrative

Avalanche fatality occurred Saturday, 9 December 2000 between 1:30 pm and 2:00 pm. The put-in was in an area north of Dunkle Mine, around milepost 196 on the Parks Highway. The accident site was about 16 miles in from the road, just inside the park boundary.The victim (James Thompson, 44) went to help a stuck snowmachiner who had been "highmarking" on a hill which tapered into a ravine. The stuck snowmachiner got himself unstuck and rode downhill. The victim was just heading downslope when he was hit from behind (witnesses said he probably didn't even see the slide coming and thus, didn't accelerate to try to ride it out).The width of the slide was estimated between 1/4 and 1/2 miles wide. The victim was carried roughly 400 yards.Two or three people witnessed Thompson getting caught, others in the area saw the slide, but not the victim being carried downslope. A team of 5-6 searchers found the sled and began probing upslope. Within about 15 minutes, they struck the victim. he was buried face down, about 4 feet deep, roughly 20 feet upslope from his snowmachine. He did not have a pulse. CPR was begun while the victim was still in the hole, and continued for 40 - 60 minutes without result.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5161158. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.