Avalanche Incident
Avalanche IncidentGRAY WOLF AVALANCHE ACCIDENT REPORT
Date: 1-3-98
Time of Accident: 0930 hrs
Exact Location: In the Mission Mountain Tribal Wilderness northeast of Arlee, Montana, southwest of Lower Riddle Lake, SE 1/4, SW 1/4, Sec 34, T18N, R18W, PMM
1 person caught, totally buried, and killed
Rod Sutherland, Missoula, MT, experienced mountaineer
1 other person in the party
Chuck Maffei, Arlee, MT, experienced mountaineer
Accident Summary:
The two climbers left Missoula at noon on Friday, 1-2-98. They snowshoed in about 4 miles from the Twin Lakes / Riddle Lakes trailhead to tree line where they spent the night. They were following the Riddle Lakes trail but found it hard going with brush and the shallow snowpack slowing them down. Their goal was to do a winter climb on Gray Wolf Peak (9001 ft) on Saturday.
Saturday morning they broke camp and had traveled about 1/4 mile to where they encountered the open slope. They realized that it was a wind loaded slab and decided to rope up to cross the slope. Chuck was doing a standing hip belay behind a large rock. When Rod got out about 80 ft. Chuck called that he was at 1/2 rope. Rod called back OK because he was over 1/2 way to a couple of small trees where he would belay Chuck. Soon after this there was a "whomph" and the slide released. Chuck was able to pull in some rope before it became tight, then he gave rope slowly trying to hold the belay. Knowing he was near rope end he held tighter and the rope cut on the rock releasing Rod on down the mountain.
Chuck was hidden behind the rock and did not see the slide release nor see the victim again. Rod had entered the slide area approx. 100 ft slope distance below the future fracture line.
Rescue:
The climbing rope acted as an avalanche cord mostly staying on the surface. Chuck hurried down slope, found the broken end of rope, and continued down the rope pulling it out of the snow at times to a point where he could not pull any more out. In his hurry he did not check the length of rope remaining. Chuck dug for 2 hours along the buried rope getting about 10 feet distance, 8 feet deep. He then snowshoed out approx 4 miles and drove to call for help. The accident was reported to Lake Country authorities at 1500 hrs. 1-3-98.
Because of the weather and late hour the search was organized for the next morning (1-4-98). Lake Country Search and Rescue (7 members), Western Montana Mountain Rescue (8 members), Salish Kootenai Tribal Search and Rescue (5 members), Lake Country Sheriff, Chuck Maffei, and 3 friends were involved in the recovery. They met at the Arlee Fire Hall at 0700 hrs then drove to the Jocko to await helicopter assistance. Airlift was delayed for 3 hrs because of valley fog. Started flying at 1230 hrs with Joe Geldrich, Lake Country Sheriff, Incident Commander and Ken Cornelius, Lake Country Search and Rescue, On-Scene Leader. On-scene rescuers were 3 groups of 4 each. Last group arrived on-scene at 1330 hrs.
Upon reaching the scene the recovery team measured the rope from the mid marking and determined that another 10 feet remained to the victim. They probed some within 10 feet of the rope, but the ski pole probes being used were not working well because they were the twist lock type. Ten foot conduit probes arrived on a later flight, but were not used because digging down the rope had begun.
Victim was uncovered at 1330 hours. Chuck had tunneled down the rope the previous day. The recovery team enlarged the hole, dug down the rope, and probed to locate. Victim was buried approx 12 feet deep, recovered 28 hrs after burial, was lying on right side in a fetal position, level from head to toe, with head downslope. No ice mask or evidence of melting around mouth or nose was found. No autopsy was performed so exact cause of death in unknown. Probably died quickly from suffocation.
It was 2 hours from first rescuer on scene to victim airlift. All personnel out by 1530 hrs. The climbing rope used for the victim's belay was a new B.D. 9.7 rope (its first belay). The rope acted as an avalanche cord with only 20 feet not on surface. The rope was tied around the victim's waist. Recovery team dug approx. 12 feet deep somewhat up slope.
Weather, Snowpack, and Avalanche Data:
Weather for the fall and early winter prior to the accident had been relatively mild and dry. At the North Fork Jocko Snotel site (6330 feet) near the accident scene the first significant snowfall of the season was received around the 1st of November. At that time the snowpillow picked up 3 new inches of snow water equivalent. Dry conditions prevailed until the 18th of November to the 25th. Approx. 5 inches SWE was received that week period. Prior to this new snowfall the snow base had turned to a cohesionless mass of faceted and angular grains very loosely bonded. Dry returned until mid December, then somewhat steady snowfall over the next 17 days brought 6 more inches of SWE, 1.5" of that in the two days prior to the accident. This latest snowfall was accompanied by strong W-SW winds.
Between Christmas and New Years air temperatures had been steadily increasing each day. On the 1st of January temperatures at North Fork Jocko remained above freezing for 24 hours. By the 2nd the temperature had plunged to near zero.
On the date of the accident snowpack was approx. 4 feet deep with bottom foot depth hoar facets, middle 2 feet consolidated older snow, and surface 1 foot fresh wind deposited snow over the last 3 days. Avalanche was climax sliding on beargrass bed surface. Released slab was 300 feet wide, running 900 feet slope distance, 400 vertical feet. Fracture line depth was 4 feet. Slide debris was 15 feet plus deep and victim was carried approx. 800 feet slope distance, 300 feet vertical.
Starting zone elevation approx. 7300 feet, east -southeast aspect, 30-35 degrees. Runout zone elevation approx. 6900 feet. Slope was open beargrass covered with scattered rocks and few small scattered trees. Path was open at the top, transitions into a gully, then fans out in the runout zone. There was a safer route by dropping 400 feet along a finger ridge and then climb along creek to Lower Riddle Lake.
Avalanche debris was hard to dig and probe. With the victim uncovered except for 1 foot of snow, 6 people could still not pull him free. They had to dig out completely to free the body. A digging spade worked well in tight spaces. Rescuers used dirt shovels and grain scoops. Dirt shovels made digging easy and scoops moved the volume of snow up large steps several times to clear the digging area. Collapsible backcountry shovels would not cut the debris. Ten foot probes would not have reached the victim.
The backcountry avalanche advisory issued by Glacier Country Avalanche
Center the day before the accident rated the avalanche hazard in this area
as 
on steep open
wind loaded slopes. The climbing party had
left not knowing this rating.
Reported by Ken Cornelius
Lake Country Search and Rescue
Submitted by Stan Bones
Glacier Country Avalanche Center
By AULICA RUTLAND/of the Missoulian
It took searchers less than two hours Sunday to find and retrieve the body of a Missoula man who died Saturday in an avalanche in the Mission Mountains.
Meanwhile, an avalanche specialist warned that backcountry conditions are ripe for more snowslides like those that killed two western Montana men Saturday.
Rodney Sutherland, 32, and his climbing partner, Chuck Maffei, were snowshoeing in the Riddel Lakes Basin near St. Ignatius about 9:30 a.m. Saturday, when a large mass of snow broke loose, carrying Sutherland away.
In an interview Sunday, Lake County Sheriff Joe Geldrich said that soon after the avalanche, Maffei found the end of the rope to which Sutherland was attached and dug about eight feet into the snow before giving up and hiking out to find help.
While it took about five hours for Maffei to hike out Saturday, he, Geldrich and other rescuers spent only about 10 minutes being flown by helicopter to the scene Sunday afternoon.
Sutherland was found, still attached to his rope, under about 12 feet of snow. The avalanche had carried him about 500 feet down the mountain, Geldrich said. Sutherland probably died during the fall, and not as a result of being trapped under the snow, Geldrich said.
Gene Thompson, an avalanche specialist with the U.S. Forest Service in Missoula, said Sunday afternoon that as long as weather conditions remain unstable in western Montana, the avalanche danger will remain "considerable."
Although avalanche conditions were moderate in the area during the middle of last week, a snow condition and avalanche advisory message recorded Thursday warned recreators that forecasted snow would increase the danger of triggered avalanches.
"It was likely that conditions were going to be set up for triggered releases," Thompson explained Sunday.
And that's apparently what happened Saturday. Although he can't be sure exactly how the avalanches that took the lives of Sutherland and Litvin started, chances are good that the slides weren't natural, but were set off by their victims' actions. ...
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