Photo: Silver Mountain
In an extremely random event, two people were killed during an inbounds avalanche at Idaho’s Silver Mountain, in Northern Idaho near the town of Kellogg. Five people were apparently rescued as searchers used probes and avalanche dogs to find victims, according to reports. The avalanche occurred in an area known as Wardner Peak.
Silver Mountain, which is known for having one of the longest gondolas in North America, released a statement through its Facebook page:
The avalanche occurred at around 11 a.m. Tuesday and officials at Silver Mountain announced the mountain would be closed Wednesday. According to reports, one of the skiers was only partially buried and helped with the search once freed. One person was pulled from 10-12 feet deep. Details on the victims’ identities were still unavailable.
An employee who had worked on the mountain for 16 years told media that he’d never heard of an inbounds avalanche at Silver. The mountain is just off I-90 between Spokane, Washington and Missoula, Montana and just east of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
