Boarders caught in avalanche; one thought dead
By Lisa Rosetta
The
A 34-year-old
The victim and his 32-year-old friend, also of
The buried snowboarder's friend searched for him for about
an hour before calling 911. The men did not have shovels or avalanche beacons, Malan said.
As LifeFlight and Department of
Public Safety helicopters hovered above, a Weber County Search and Rescue team,
along with Snowbasin Ski Patrol and three search
dogs, scoured the area until poor weather forced them to halt their search
about 8 p.m.
A cold, upper-level storm system that parked over the
Wasatch mountains caused high winds and dumped heavy snow in the Snowbasin area.
"We kind of panicked," Malan
said. "We wanted to get our people off [the mountain] before dark."
Avalanche danger was moderate Saturday, with damp to wet avalanches
possible on steep, sun-exposed slopes, the
Malan said the avalanche - which
search and rescuers initially presumed to be relatively small - turned out to
be fairly large, with snow between 10 and 15 feet deep at the toe of the slide.
"It's fairly extensive," Malan
said. "They [search and rescue] didn't have much time to mess with
it" before the search was called off.
Recovery efforts were to resume early this morning, weather
permitting, Malan said.
The snowboarder is the second person to perish in a slide
this season. A
Last season, eight people were killed in the state, making
it one of the deadliest avalanche seasons since records have been kept.
lrosetta@sltrib.com
Family
and friends hold out hope for snowboarder
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A 34-year-old
snowboarding man was caught in an avalanche March 11th on the backside
wilderness area behind |
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years, and the canyon near Snowbasin
where crews searched for his body Sunday was "his backyard."
The 34-year-old and a friend triggered an avalanche Saturday
afternoon after snowboarding from the top of Snowbasin
into
By Sunday afternoon, search and rescue crews from
"We're praying for a miracle," said his older
brother, George Smedley. "We're obviously hoping
he's OK."
Ryan Smedley, of South Ogden, and Pincombe, of Pleasant View, were part of a group still
close even years after their days at
Many of those friends drank coffee, smoked cigarettes and
hugged one another Sunday at the search command center in a cul
de sac
at the foot of
"We're all kind of just in shock," said Eddie
Buckley.
Ryan Smedley and Pincombe climbed to the top of Snowbasin
around 4 p.m. Saturday and launched off the west side of the mountain,
triggering the avalanche in a chute, Weber County Sheriff Brad Slater said.
The slide was about 150 yards long, 30 to 40 yards wide and
about 15 to 20 feet deep at the toe, according to the Sheriff's Office. It was
in an area owned by the U.S. Forest Service - not the ski resort - and not
maintained against avalanches.
When it gave way, the slide swept past Pincombe
and swallowed Smedley, said Buckley, who spoke to a
shaken Pincombe about 6 p.m. Saturday.
"He said it hit Ryan from behind and shot him down the
hill," Buckley said.
The
"If you're heading into backcountry terrain, you need to
always be prepared for self-rescue," he said. That means bring gear like
an avalanche beacon and a shovel.
Neither man had a beacon. Pincombe
searched for Smedley for about an hour before hiking
to a house where he called for help.
Snow, clouds and 20 to 30 mph winds forced the Sheriff's
Office to call off the search about 10 p.m. Saturday. Low clouds and snow
hampered efforts Sunday, preventing a helicopter from shelling the mountain in
order to trigger more avalanches and stabilize the area.
"We still have a treacherous avalanche potential
environment," Slater said.
The Sheriff's Office took George Smedley
and another brother up in helicopter to show them the area, so they could see
for
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The search for
missing snowboarder Ryan Smedley presumed dead in
an avalanche, was scheduled to resume this morning at 8 a.m. Smedley's sister Sheila Smedley,
third from right, talks with a group of Ryan's friends and thanks them for
their help and support Sunday evening. (Chris Detrick/The
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themselves
why it was so hard for the searchers. When he returned, George Smedley said he understood. Snowbasin
is 10,000 feet tall, and the search area was at about 8,200 feet elevation,
above the cloud level.
Still, he said, the waiting was "really hard."
While they waited, friends described Ryan Smedley as an experienced snowboarder and a free spirit who
traveled to
"Ryan is his own barrel of monkeys," said friend
Dave Beson.
Intermittent snow flurries swirled around the group of
friends, who took comfort in their ever-growing numbers. Don and Debbie Noseworthy, who watched the group gather outside their
east-Ogden home, carried pot after pot of chicken noodle soup to the hungry
crowd. With three children of their own, all of whom love to snowboard, they
said, the couple felt for the friends and family of the missing man.
"They're just people that need help," said Don Noseworthy. "We're all interconnected in some
way."
A break in the weather around 4 p.m. allowed avalanche
control efforts to continue. Within the hour, as many as 20 searchers from the
sheriff's office and the
Snowbasin Ski Resort ski patrol were
scouring the slide, said Weber County Sheriff's Capt. Klint
Anderson. Many were dropped onto the slide by helicopter.
Ryan Smedley was not married and
didn't have any children. He was the youngest of seven children who grew up in
The owner of Lucky 7 Construction, he employed many of his
Buckley said he and half a dozen friends usually accompanied
Smedley to snowboard
Although Smedley's family says he
wasn't reckless, Buckley described a risk-taker.
"We've all seen avalanches, and several of us have
survived them," he said, adding everyone knew it was dangerous.
"Those guys know better, too, but [Smedley's] a
gambler."
The way Ryan Smedley apparently
died really didn't surprise some of his friends.
"This was very much his fashion," Buckley said.
"If he was going to go out, he was going to go out with a bang."
Searchers were called off the mountain around 8:30 p.m. With
the helicopters no longer available, the rescuers were forced to hike for about
an hour to the command post where they were de-briefed and sent home around 10
p.m.,
Searchers find body of
snowboarder
By Ben Winslow
Deseret Morning News
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A search dog led search and rescue
teams to the body of Ryan Smedley, 34, of South Ogden
at 12:23 p.m. Monday in
"The new snow brought new
avalanche threats," said Weber County Sheriff's Capt. Klint
Anderson. Smedley's body was found against a tree,
leading them to believe he was thrown into it and then buried by the avalanche.
Searchers used a helicopter to transport his body to
"It was a quiet mood,"
said sheriff's deputy Brandon Toll, who helped find Smedley.
"It's always difficult when the outcome's like this."
At a base camp set up at the top
of
"We're all a little bit
numb," said George Smedley, Ryan's older
brother. "At the same time, we're relieved at this point we don't have to
wait until spring."
Many of Ryan Smedley's
friends were visibly upset, sobbing upon hearing of his death. They huddled in
a group, sharing stories of their adventures with him.
"The only people that didn't
like Ryan were only people who hadn't met him yet," said Brent Mitchell,
who described his friend as a man with a giving heart. Smedley
owned a contracting company, Lucky Seven Construction.
"He would take derelicts on
to work for him," Mitchell said.
Smedley was snowboarding with a friend on
Saturday afternoon when they became caught up in the avalanche in the canyon.
John Pincombe, 32, survived the slide and spent an
hour looking for his friend before going for help.
Search and rescue teams said it's
important for anyone venturing into the backcountry to be prepared.
"This is a perfect
example," said John Sohl, director of
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Smedley and Pincombe
did not have avalanche beacons on them when the slide occurred. Searchers urged
people to check the avalanche forecast, always wear beacons and bring probes
and shovels to help them should they get in trouble. A tram, which was
completed before the Olympics, takes people to the top of
"The key thing is to
understand that as soon as you step out of the resort, you're stepping into the
Stone Age," Sohl said.
George Smedley
said his family was relying on their faith and the good memories they have of
Ryan to keep them going. He described his brother as "very
adventurous," but at the same time responsible. The family has set up a
memorial fund at Wells Fargo Bank to help pay for funeral costs.
"We're going to miss
him," Smedley said.
Winter weather also created
trouble for searchers looking for three young men in southern
"Some guys decided to go off-roading on a dirt road and got stuck," said Washington
County Sheriff Kirk Smith. The young men became disoriented and spent the night
in freezing temperatures before getting their bearings and contacting
authorities for help.
Authorities said rapid changes
between spring and winter weather make conditions in
"You go off road, you get
stuck," Smith said Monday. "This is not the time to go four-wheeling.
Right now you've got to be very careful where you go in the state of
Snowboarder's body found
By Kristen Moulton
The
John Pincombe, who watched the
avalanche hit his friend Saturday afternoon and spent an hour trying to dig him
out, found some solace in the news, which came at about 12:30 p.m.
"I wish the family the best and I give them my
love," said Pincombe, 32, of Pleasant View.
Weber County Sheriff's spokesman Klint
Anderson said the body of the 34-year-old
Some 40 of Smedley's friends had
kept a vigil around a fire at the command center at the top of
"I'm kind of relieved we got him off the mountain,"
said Eddie Buckley, Smedley's friend for 20 years.
George Smedley, an older brother,
said family members tried to remain hopeful that Ryan would be found alive, but
by Monday morning, that was difficult.
"The reality of it was starting to set in," he
said.
Ryan Smedley, the youngest in a
family of seven children, lost his mother when he was three and his father four
years ago. Two of his three sisters - one is in
The owner of Lucky 7 Construction Inc., Smedley
loved all kinds of boarding: skate, snow and surf. He was always cheerful.
"He'd walk in a room and kids and dogs would get
excited," said his brother-in-law, Kevin Bowler.
Smedley, who was single, was
spontaneous and loved adventure, said George Smedley.
It was not like his little brother to fail to wear a beacon
that could have indicated his location. The run "was probably
spur-of-the-moment."
Pincombe said that's exactly what
it was.
The two had taken one run down Snowbasin's
slopes before Smedley suggested they board down the
backside - the west side - of the mountain.
Recent storms had dumped nearly 2 feet of new snow, and
though it was about 3 p.m., there was plenty of daylight left.
Smedley called a friend from the
top of Snowbasin, asking him to meet him and Pincombe at the top of
Boarding near a rocky knob west of
Pincombe said he dug in vain for
his friend.
Sheriff's officials say Pincombe
used a cell phone to call emergency dispatch. He also hiked down to an
Rescuers were on the mountain Saturday night, but had to
suspend the search because of snow and the danger of more avalanches.
Snowfall overnight increased the danger, and fog and snow
kept helicopters from flying near enough to drop explosives to trigger
avalanches and make the area safe for searchers until midafternoon
Sunday.
Sheriff Brad Slater said search dogs were in the area Sunday,
the day before Smedley's body was found, but picked
up no scent. Several more inches of snow fell Sunday night, forcing helicopters
to drop more explosives Monday morning. Rescuers began combing the avalanche
area at about 11:15 a.m.
Anderson said Smedley's body was
only about 1 foot below the surface, but it might have been under 5 feet or 6
feet of snow before the explosives were set in the area Sunday and Monday.
Smedley's friends have opened the
Ryan Smedley Memorial Account at Wells Fargo to help
the family with funeral expenses. Any extra money will be donated to Weber County
Search and Rescue.