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Skier killed after group triggers avalanche in Wyoming National Park

The avalanche happened Saturday in a backcountry area about 20 miles east of Grand Teton National Park.

Via AP news wire,Mike Bedigan
Monday 06 January 2025 04:29 GMT
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One person was killed in an avalanche in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park
One person was killed in an avalanche in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park (National Parks Service (NPS))

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An avalanche killed one skier and injured another after the group they were in triggered the large snowslide while ascending a mountain in western Wyoming.

The avalanche happened on Saturday in a backcountry area about 20 miles east of Grand Teton National Park.

As the group of four people went up a steep slope at an elevation of 10,400 feet, a large slab of snow about five feet thick broke away and slid, fully burying the victim and partially burying a second skier, according to Teton County Search and Rescue and the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center.

One person was killed in an avalanche in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park
One person was killed in an avalanche in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park (National Parks Service (NPS))

Authorities received an alert about the accident just before noon. It took rescuers almost four hours to reach the scene by skis after a helicopter tried to reach the site but had to turn around because of stormy weather.

A series of snowstorms have swept through the area in recent weeks, including one on Saturday, said National Weather Service forecaster Jason Straub.

The skier's death marks the fifth person to be killed by an avalanche in the U.S. this winter.

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