(Togwotee Pass, WY)—Yesterday, County 10 shared that a skier had been reported deceased following an avalanche accident in the Togwotee Pass area on Saturday, January 4, which also injured another skier.
The deceased has since been identified as 36-year-old Lander resident Kenneth Goff, Teton County Coroner Brent Blue shared with County 10 on January 6.
Blue also informed that the official cause and manner of death are “pending” at this time.
The avalanche occurred near Breccia Peak, which is located about 2.5 miles north of Togwotee Pass, near Moran.
In addition to the information shared yesterday, Teton County Search and Rescue also issued the following release on their Facebook page.
Just before noon on Saturday, Teton County Search & Rescue was called to respond to a known avalanche burial on Togwotee Pass. The emergency alert came in via iPhone satellite text-to-911, but it was unclear whether the avalanche involved snowmobilers or skiers. For anyone using this relatively new function, please include the nature of your emergency, mechanism of injury, and number of people in your party. Including that info can help first responders efficiently develop solutions to the problems.
Initial reports indicated that a group of four was in the Breccia Cliffs area when they triggered an avalanche. As TCSAR mobilized, the team learned that it was a party of four skiers who’d triggered the slide as they were ascending a skin track. The avalanche partially buried one skier and fully buried another. The partially buried skier sustained a lower leg injury.
TCSAR responded with teams in the helicopter, on snowmobiles, and on skis. The helicopter team lifted off but returned when weather conditions did not permit an air response. The snowmobile team was also unable to reach the party of skiers due to the challenging conditions.
A team of skiers from TCSAR approached the area on skins and were able to get on scene at approximately 3:47 p.m. They began to apply treatment to the injured skier and remaining members of the party. The volunteers also worked to begin recovering the deceased skier for transport out of the backcountry. The volunteers worked into the evening, skiing the injured skier out of the backcountry in a litter to a waiting ambulance from Grand Teton National Park. The team also skied the deceased skier out via a sked. This serves as an important reminder of how much longer a mission can take when the helicopter is grounded, and is another factor to consider in your backcountry planning should an accident occur.
TCSAR extends its most sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased skier.
According to the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center (BTAC) event summary, “portions of a summer trail route were used to access this zone by the party yesterday, as well as rescuers and forecasters today, which follows a moderate, treed ridgeline.”
“Around 10,000′, the trail breaks out of the treed slope and crosses between a steep, rocky ridge to one side and creek drainage on the other side,” the BTAC summary also informs. “Around 200 feet into crossing this steeper section, the party triggered a large avalanche that joined several treed avalanche paths.”
“The slope angle at the point of the skin track was ~26°, which remotely triggered an avalanche in a steep start zone (~39°) around 300′ above the party. The individual leading the party was fully buried around 12 feet deep, and a second individual was partially buried and injured.”
The BTAC reports also states that a “secondary, smaller avalanche was sympathetically triggered in the creek drainage below and ran less than 50′ from the toe of the primary avalanche debris.”
Today’s BTAC forecast for Togwotee Pass still puts the avalanche rating at “Level 3” for “considerable” danger.
County 10 will share additional information as it becomes available.