Avalanche Victim In Critical Condition

Wed., Jan. 26, 2000

From Staff

A 46-year-old Minnesota man remained in intensive care Tuesday after being caught in an avalanche in the Targhee National Forest last weekend.

Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center declined to detail the injuries Ray Schoenfielder suffered when the snowmobile he was riding near the LionHead area on the Idaho-Montana border apparently triggered the avalanche on Saturday.

Although avalanche forecasts were low to moderate, National Forest spokesman Bill Davis said Schoenfielder apparently hit an unstable pocket of snow on a steep slope.

Fremont County Deputy Sheriff Bill Ashton said Schoenfielder was with a friend from Minnesota and a couple from West Yellowstone when the avalanche hit him.

Ashton said Schoenfielder was probably buried for five to 10 minutes. His friends built a fire to warm him and rode onto a ridge to call for help. It took rescuers seven hours to cover 15 miles of trail to reach him and get him out of the steep, rough terrain.

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Avalanche Victim In Critical Condition

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

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