At approximately 11 a.m. on January 7, the Shoshone County Sheriff’s office received a report of up to three separate inbounds avalanche incidents at Silver Mountain, Idaho.
Emergency responders were able to rescue five skiers, and two skiers were killed in the slides, as reported by the Shoshone Sheriff’s Department. Silver Mountain has stated in press releases that all skiers have been accounted for.
The slides occurred in the Wardner Peak zone of the mountain, which has some of the mountain’s steepest expert terrain, much of which was closed Tuesday.
The Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center issued an avalanche warning January 7, the morning before the slide, rating the avy danger as “high” due to recent heavy snow combined with wind.
Earlier this season, in December, an inbounds avalanche at Steamboat Springs, buried one skier who was safely recovered. Eight people were partially buried. A small, inbounds avalanche at Copper Mountain occurred the same weekend, partially burying multiple people who were able to self extricate. Last January, an inbounds avalanche on Taos’ Kachina Peak killed two skiers, 26-year-old Matthew Zonghetti, of Massachusetts, and 22-year-old Corey Borg-Massanari, of Colorado, who were buried in more than six feet of snow.
UPDATE: One more skier has been reported missing by the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office. Approximately 30 search and rescue personnel has responded. As of Thursday morning, the search continues as responders probe search the debris fields.
This article originally appeared on Powder.com and was republished with permission.
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