Idaho Avalanche Report: Father and Son Buried 15 Feet Apart in Deadly Carrot Canyon Slide
BRETT FRENCH | bfrench@billingsgazette.com
The search for a Minnesota man trapped by a Feb. 22 avalanche in Idaho was complicated by his father also being buried by the slide.
“Having multiple burials both complicates the rescue and reduces the number of rescuers,” according to an investigation of the incident published by the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center.
Although the victim, 21-year-old Landon Fox, and his father Lucas were both wearing avalanche transceivers and air bags designed to keep victims close to the surface, the two other members of the snowmobile party were slowed in their search by overlapping transceiver signals as the father and son were buried only about 15 feet apart in 1- to 3-feet of snow, the center reported.
The party of four riders — which included Fox’s 17-year-old brother Hayden and a family friend, Stewart Meyer, 25, according to reporting by the Rexburg Standard Journal — were riding in Carrot Canyon in the Centennial Mountains, just west of West Yellowstone.
The avalanche danger that day for the region at an elevation above 8,000 feet was rated considerable. As evidence of the snowpack’s instability, the riders triggered a “very small” slide lower on the same slope as they rode in the canyon.
All of the men had taken avalanche safety courses and were well equipped.
“As they left the trailhead, they all had radios, avalanche transceivers, shovels, and airbag backpacks but no probes,” the center reported.
However, Meyer’s radio was not working.
It was past noon when Lucas Fox became stuck on the side of a steep gulch.
“While he was working to reposition his sled, (Meyer) climbed up past him going all the way to the top of the slope when” an avalanche broke loose, the center said.
Lucas Fox deployed his airbag and was swept about 75 feet downhill.
“He was disoriented for a moment,” the center reported. “At that time, Landon rode to the bottom of the slope, parked his sled, took off his helmet, and walked up to help his dad.”
About five minutes later another slide let loose.
The crown of the avalanche broke about 22-inches deep and about 200 feet wide at an elevation of 8,152 feet on a 38-degree slope. The snow slid about 300 feet downhill into the bottom of the gully.
Landon and Lucas radioed the other riders when the avalanche started. Then Landon activated his airbag. This third avalanche of the day completely buried both men.
Lucas, “who was fully buried, remembers slowing his breathing, saying goodbye to his family, and praying that his boys had not been buried,” the center reported.
Hayden Fox and Meyer found Lucas Fox first, uncovering his left arm and head.
“They tried to turn off his transceiver to simplify their search for Landon but could not reach it quickly because they had not fully unburied Dad and his transceiver was in his backpack,” the center wrote.
Landon Fox was eventually located downhill from his father.
“They performed CPR, but sadly it was too late,” the center said.
Meyer rode uphill to get a cellphone signal, calling in the incident to the Clark County dispatch center at 2:25 p.m. A group of Wisconsin riders saw Myer hunched over his sled, learned of the accident and rode into Carrot Canyon. The Wisconsin riders used probes to locate Lucas Fox’s snowmobile.
The accident occurred during a volatile period with the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center recording 14 avalanches between Feb. 8 and 23 with five people partially buried and another person fully buried.
“The main factor in this avalanche was the weak layer of faceted snow capped and stressed by snow from two storms,” the center said.
Between Feb. 16 and 19, a nearby SNOTEL site recorded 31 inches of new snow, followed by another 1 to 3 inches before the day of the avalanche.
The other complicating issue was the avalanche path ended in a “terrain trap,” where the hillside quickly transitioned to flatter ground allowing the snow to pile up.
“All the fatal avalanche accidents we investigate are tragic events,” the center noted. “We do our best to describe each accident to help the people involved and the community as a whole better understand them.”
Although highlighting shortcomings during the incident, the center’s investigators also noted that Lucas Fox was saved.
“Avalanches are VERY stressful, chaotic, and challenging situations,” the center wrote. “Both that stress and overlapping transceiver signals made the search process very difficult.”
Fox’s funeral is scheduled for March 4 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Good Thunder, Minnesota. A truck procession from the church to the cemetery is being organized by his brother, Hayden.
“There aren’t enough words to describe the kind of man he was,” Hayden wrote on the Mankato Mortuary website. “He was hardworking, dependable, and proud of the life he built. He showed up for people without hesitation and never asked for anything in return. If you knew him, you know how much trucks meant to him. They weren’t just a hobby they were part of who he was.
“Seeing a long line of trucks in his honor will be a powerful reflection of the life he lived and the impact he had on so many. It will mean more than we can truly express to give him this final tribute.”
So far this winter, 20 people have been killed in avalanches in the United States. The majority, 13, were skiers and snowboarders, followed by five snowmobiler deaths. No fatalities have occurred in Montana so far, but Wyoming has had two, Utah four and California 11.
