Avalanches Claim Three Lives In Wyoming And Washington State
- - Avalanches Claim Three Lives In Wyoming And Washington State
Renee Straker January 13, 2026 at 5:36 AM
0
A series of weekend avalanches in the West have killed three people in Wyoming and Washington.
On Sunday, 31-year-old Nicholas Bringhurst from Springville, Utah, was caught in an avalanche while snowmobiling in Labarage Creek, Wyoming.
Bringhurst was found by a friend who started CPR, according to the Lincoln County’s Sheriff’s Office. In a press release, they stated that although Bringhurst was not buried by the snow, he died as a result of being caught in the avalanche.
The Sheriff’s Office added that the coroner’s office would determine the exact cause of death.
(MORE: Coldest Temps Of The Season Heading To Southeast)
Lincoln County Sheriff's Office
In Washington State, four men snowmobiling in the backcountry in northern Kittitas County were caught in an avalanche near Longs Pass on Friday around 4 p.m. local time.
Two of them died. The Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office identified them as 38-year-old Paul Markoff, from North Bend, Washington, and 43-year-old Erik Henne from Snoqualmie Pass.
Rescue teams were able to reach the two survivors Ian Laing and Patrick Leslie by Friday evening, but conditions were too hazardous to recover the victims.
Search-and-rescue teams returned on Saturday morning with three avalanche trained K9s and the victims’ bodies were airlifted out.
Kittitas County Sheriff's Office
The West recently received beneficial, fresh snow but it was then followed by warmer, sunny days.
Weather.com meteorologist Jennifer Gray explains that this combination created a higher risk for avalanche danger by rapidly warming and saturating the new snow, which weakens its bond to the underlying snow.
(MORE: Juneau, Alaska, Braces For More Avalanches)
She says, “This can lead to the fresh snow becoming too heavy for the old snowpack to hold and therefore, the slab to slide, which is the avalanche.”
Gray adds that temperatures across the West are running well above average. Highs across much of Colorado and Washington state are ranging 10-20 degrees above average the next few days, so the avalanche danger should remain elevated.
Excluding the deaths in Washington, the National Avalanche Center has recorded four other deaths this season: two in California and two in Wyoming.
The center encourages skiers and snowmobilers to check their detailed maps and forecasts before hitting the slopes and mountains.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
