Avalanche kills snowmobiler

BUTTE, Mont. – An avalanche triggered by snowmobilers buried a Utah man under 8 feet of snow, killing him, Beaverhead County officials said.

Ryan D. White, 25, of Bountiful, Utah, died on New Year’s Day, said coroner Ron Briggs.

White and several others were snowmobiling in the Hell Roaring drainage on Mount Jefferson, in the southeast corner of Beaverhead County, when someone in the group triggered the slide at about 3:25 p.m. Monday, Sheriff Jay Hansen said.

White was buried under the snow and was not wearing a transceiver.

Another member of the party was also caught in the slide, estimated at a half-mile wide, but was able to get to the side of the avalanche, Hansen said.

Fremont County, Idaho, sheriff’s deputies responded to the slide, which happened near the Montana-Idaho border. White’s body was recovered.

White is the third snowmobiler to die in an avalanche in southwestern Montana this winter.