Utah saw its first 2016 avalanche fatality on Thursday, January 21st, when 49-year-old Douglas Green perished in a slide on Gobblers Knob. According to the Utah Avalanche Center, Green was skiing with another skier on a south-facing run called White Snake. This run is steep and open, and descends into Mill A Basin near Baker Pass. The preliminary report shows that the two skiers were making turns one at a time, stopping on islands of safety as they went. After the first skier descended the second pitch and stopped on the right of the run, he called Green down to him. As he began his descent, he triggered the avalanche, which broke out near the ridge far above them.
The slide propagated a few-hundred feet wide, and carried Green down the avalanche path into a gully. He was able to inflate his airbag, but was still buried 3-4 feet under the snow. The first skier was hit by debris and carried into a tree, where he was only partially buried. He was able extricate himself and locate Green to dig him out, but sadly, Green was pronounced dead after being evacuated by helicopter to Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City.
Here’s a news report from KSL about the avalanche:
According to Guido, Doug loved skiing at Alta and was a self-described “Collins snob.” Doug lived in Sugar House, where I reside, and he had hoped to retire there. The similarities and the passions in life we all share, like skiing the Wasatch, causes self-reflection and a realization that we are all basically the same. Having skied Gobbler’s Knob several times myself, the fact hits home that it is so easy to make that one mistake…
To find out more about Doug Green, his life, and his untimely death, I recommend you read Marc Guido’s article about his friend.
Here’s to hoping that this is the last avalanche death in the Wasatch this season…