Snowmobile mishap hurts C. Falls man: Accident occurred Sunday near Red Meadow Lake

The Daily Inter Lake

A Columbia Falls man injured his back in a snowmobile accident Sunday afternoon near Red Meadow Lake.

The 48-year-old man - whose name was not released - "seemed to be in good spirits" as an ambulance took him to North Valley Hospital, said Tom Snyder, a Flathead County sheriff's deputy and coordinator of the Flathead Search and Rescue Team's recovery effort.

The accident in the same region as a Jan. 14 avalanche that buried three snowmobilers, killing two of them.

Early on Sunday afternoon, a group of snowmobilers were in the area. The Columbia Falls man "highmarked" a slope - seeing how high he could get his machine up a steep incline - before turning around and zooming downhill. He apparently did not realize a 20- to 30-foot-tall cliff was downslope of him, and his snowmobile went over, Snyder said.

He injured his lower back. Information about the extent of his injury was not available early Sunday evening.

A member of his group went to a spot where cellular phone reception was available, and called 911. The Red Meadows Lake area, which is popular with snowmobilers, has poor radio and cellular phone reception.

Ambulances from Olney and Whitefish responded. A paramedic was ferried by snowmobile to the accident site to stabilize the victim. Red Meadows Lake is roughly 15 air miles north of Olney and is farther away by snowmobile trails.

The Flathead Search and Rescue Team then went in, and brought the injured man out on a sled behind a snowmobile.