Date: Wed, 21 Feb 1996 08:13:58 +0000 From: Bruce Bowler Anchorage Daily News 2/21/96 3 SKIERS DIE IN AVALANCHE The Associated Press FAIRBANKS - Searchers have found the bodies of three backcountry skiers killed in an avalanche Sunday at Castner Glacier about 60 miles south of Delta Junction. Searchers probing a 20-foot-deep pile of rock-hard avalanche debris found one body late Monday after following a rope on top of the snow that led to the skier. The other two bodies were found about noon Tuesday, said trooper spokesman Steve Wilhelmi. The victims' names were not immediately released while their families were contacted. They were thought to be from Fairbanks. Rescue crews began searching the area early Monday but suspended their efforts at dark. The search resumed Tuesday with search dogs, avalanche experts from Fort Greely and Anchorage, a team of Fairbanks mountaineers, troopers and helicopters. Trooper Lt. Joel Hard said the trio, all in their 20s, were out amid extremely volatile avalanche conditions. Troopers said the area, at Isabel Pass, is unstable and that avalanches had occurred throughout the weekend. Troopers received sketchy information about possible missing skiers at midnight Sunday and began the rescue effort at 6 a.m. Monday, Hard said. Searchers found an abandoned campsite and ski tracks surrounding a fresh avalanche site. The missing skiers' vehicle was found on the roadside, he said. Alpine Club president Franz Mueter said his club had been at the glacier over the weekend, although he was not. A member told him later that his group had camped about 11/2 miles from the Richardson Highway, near a group of three skiers. On Sunday the group of three went off on their own while the Alpine Club members practiced basic techniques with their ropes, Mueter said. When members of his club went back to the road and found the car of the three other skiers, they went back to look for them, he said. The search area was a hilly glacier tongue, with inclines and depressions of about 100 feet. Avalanche experts said the winter's thin ground layer of snow followed by heavy snowfall and winds over the weekend combined to create prime avalanche conditions. ''I think a lot of us that are involved in mountains were expecting something to happen,'' said Tim Brown, a technical adviser for the Army's Cold Weather Mountain School at Fort Greely. ''Everybody's been dying to go skiing and snowmachining, and they're going out there with skiing eyes and snowmachining eyes,'' he said. ''All it takes is one of us to go out there on a snowmachine or skis for that weak snow layer to collapse.'' ============================================================== Also received concerning this incident: ...here's a little more detail on the avalanche at Delta. This is from a friend in the State Troopers. "Basically, these people weren't really familiar with where they were skiing and didn't recognize the avalanche danger signs. They got caught in an avalanche on a slope that was about at 45 degrees angle. They were tethered to each other, had no avalanche locator equipment and were found near the base of the slope buried in 3 - 10 feet of snow. There was about 14-18" of fresh snow at the time they were skiing/hiking in 10-15 degree temperatures. The wind was brisk and blowing in gusts up to 30 knots. Perfect conditions for an avalanche. They were reported missing late Sunday night. We sent a DOT snow machine crew to the area early Monday morning who located the camp. We sent a helicopter to the area also that morning but were unsuccessful in locating the victims. A snowmachine crew went to the area we suspected they were supposed to be and located ski tracks going to the area of the avalanche, but no ski tracks exiting. Fearing additional avalanche danger, helicopter flights over the area were discontinued until avalanche experts from Anchorage and Fairbanks arrived on scene and determined that no additional avalanche danger was present. All three victims were recovered by search crews yesterday afternoon and evening."