Three Killed In Montana Avalanche

A stuck snowmobiler and two others who were trying to free him died Sunday when an avalanche buried them under 6 feet of snow just north of Yellowstone National Park.

A beacon worn by one of the snowmobilers led rescuers to the bodies.

Sheriff Charley Johnson said up to a foot of snow had fallen in the area Wednesday night and another 8 to 10 inches had fallen each night since then.

The slide was 100 yards wide and a quarter of a mile long, Johnson said.

The threat of additional avalanches made the search hazardous.

“This whole pass up there is a conglomeration of different avalanche chutes,” Johnson said.

Two of the victims were from Cody, Wyo., while the third was from Canada. Their names and ages were being withheld until their families could be notified, the sheriff said.

The avalanche was in the same location where a Billings, Mont., man died in a snowslide in January 1994, Johnson said.

Two weeks ago, avalanches swept through British Columbia, Montana and Idaho, killing 11 skiers and snowmobilers.