March 7, 2004
A man killed Saturday in an avalanche on Jeru
Peak has been identified at Walt Curtis, 44, Newman Lake, Washington.
According to U.S. Forest Service enforcement officer Lee Taylor, Curtis came to
the area with six friends for a day of snowmobiling March 6, and Taylor said he
counted 59 vehicles at the Pack River Park.
Curtis and another man were apparently "highmarking" on a 50-degree
slope crowned by cornices on the west side of Jeru Peak between 11:45 a.m. and
noon. According to Taylor, the other rider, heading down, apparently triggered
the avalanche, which caught Curtis and his machine as he was still heading up.
The impact pushed Curtis four- to five-hundred feet down the slope and buried
him underneath his sled in about five feet of snow. He was carrying a beacon,
and bystanders found the snowmobile quickly, but it took about 15 minutes to
free Curtis from snow that bystanders described as being like concrete.
Bystanders initiated CPR, but their attempts to revive Curtis failed.
Boundary County sheriffs dispatchers were notified at 12:40 p.m., and a Med Star
medical evacuation helicopter was put in the air, but it turned back when Curtis
was pronounced dead.
At about the same time rescuers were working to free Curtis, a second avalanche
broke loose a short distance away and buried three snowmobilers. All three were
rescued safely.
According to Taylor, conditions are ripe for avalanche activity, and the area
where Curtis was killed showed many of the classic signs that would alert
experienced back country recreationists to impending danger.
"They should not have been riding where they were," he said.