Avalanche Incident, 2001-2002 Season

Official Reports

Preliminary Report from the Alaska Mountain Safety Center, Inc.
December 11, 2000

Here's the quick and dirty on the avalanche fatality that occurred Saturday, 9 December 2000 south of Cantwell. The put-in was north of Dunkle Mine, around mile 196 of the Parks Highway. The accident site was about 16 miles in from the road, just inside the park boundary. A party of 6 snowmachiners rode to the steep end of a valley and was highmarking on a hill which tapered into a ravine. One snowmachiner became stuck. A second (the victim, James Thompson, 44) went to help. The first guy got himself unstuck and rode downhill. The victim was just heading downslope went he was hit from behind (witnesses said he probably didn't even see slide coming and thus, didn't accelerate to try to ride it out). Fracture was 1-1.5 feet deep. The width estimated by an Alaska State Trooper (Ron Johnson, Cantwell post) who went in to investigate Sunday was 1/4-1/2 mile wide, but the visibility was poor so this is a rough guess. It sounds like new and wind-loaded snow on depth hoar, as the avalanche released to the ground. Johnson also noted that there were numerous fractures in the area.

The victim was carried roughly 400 yards. Two or three people had witnessed Thompson get caught, others in the area saw the slide, but not the victim being carried downslope. The team of 5-6 searchers found the sled, and began probing upslope. Within about 15 minutes, they struck the victim. He was buried face down, about 4 feet deep, roughly 20 feet upslope from his snowmachine. He did not have a pulse. CPR was begun while the victim was still in the hole, and continued for 40 minutes to 1 hour, without result. Thompson's partners brought his body out to the road by snowmachine.

The accident occurred about 1:30-2 pm Saturday afternoon. A father and son who were in the area, but not part of Thompson's part, rode out for help. Another party of two also rode out to where they could make cell phone contact. The Alaska State Troopers received notification about 2:35-2:40. A Mast/EMS helicopter was launched from Fairbanks around 3 PM The AST staged a rescue response from the Parks Highway, but the original party was able to bring the victim's body to the road.

Media Reports

The Associated Press (December 12, 2000)

A Fairbanks snowmachiner was killed this weekend when he was hit by a 300-foot-wide avalanche and buried under four feet of compacted snow, according to officials of Denali National Park and Preserve, where the accident occurred.

James Thompson was buried for only about 15 minutes before his friends dug him out, but they could not revive him despite performing CPR for about an hour, according to the Alaska State Troopers.

Thompson's death is the first avalanche fatality reported in Alaska this winter, though three snowmachine riders have died in other kinds of accidents. Two went through ice and drowned, and a third was killed in a collision with another snowmachiner near Tetlin.

Thompson, 44, was riding with a group of eight friends near Dunkle Mine, west of Cantwell, said Trooper Rod Johnson.

They were near the wilderness area of the park but not in the area closed to riding, said Johnson, who visited the site Sunday. The group was about 20 miles from the highway and had broken into small groups and were exploring the terrain.

One of Thompson's friends rode up a narrow ravine and got stuck, Johnson said. "The other person (Thompson) came up, and they were thinking about riding through the ravine," Johnson said.

Thompson helped his friend dig out the machine and get headed back down. But as he followed, an avalanche came loose from an adjacent slope and carried Thompson down the ravine.

The avalanche occurred sometime between 1:30 and 2 p.m., according to troopers.

Thompson wasn't carrying an avalanche beacon, but others in the group had probes and shovels. They found him buried face-down after about 15 minutes, but could not revive him.

A member of the group rode out to the Parks Highway to reach an area in cell phone range, and called troopers about 2:30 p.m.

A military helicopter and rescue workers were unable to locate the group. Thompson was brought out to the highway by others in his group, and was later pronounced dead.

The southern part of the national park had been opened to snowmachining only the day before, but park officials had warned that conditions were ripe for avalanches because of alternating rain and snow, especially in narrow valleys and ravines.

Temperatures in the area Monday were topping 30 degrees, he said. Many creeks and lakes have yet to freeze.

"We've had rain. We've had snow. We've had wind," warned National Park Service Ranger Tom Habecker. "All together that contributes to dangerous conditions."

Other Sources

www.csac.org