On the trail to avalanche safety

It's been a bad winter for avalanches in Montana, with six people killed and narrow escapes for several others, including three Flathead snowmobilers who survived a slide in the Jewel Basin last week.

That means it's time to review the safety rules for backcountry travel, which are in place for the sake of everyone's safety, not just as a bureaucratic power trip.

Several rules were apparently broken by the local snowmobilers: trespassing in an area that has been closed to snowmobiling for some 25 years; forgetting radio transceivers; and providing incorrect locations of the incident to Flathead County Search and Rescue.

Fortunately, two of the snowmobilers were able to guide a group of other snowmobilers to the slide area, where they were able to find a buried companion and save his life.

It was a miraculous outcome for a snowmobiler buried for eight hours, and everyone celebrates the fortitude and determination that made this rescue a success.

But this incident, and others this winter, should be a wake-up call to those who use the backcountry, especially snowmobilers, who now account for the majority of avalanche incidents.

Of the 17 avalanche fatalities in the Rocky Mountains this winter, 11 were snowmobilers.

And all too often the incidents involve people who are not equipped to survive avalanches.

One example is an avalanche that killed two snowmobilers in a closed area near Townsend last month. None of the riders carried transceivers or probe poles. A survivor of the incident did not have the equipment to help his friends.

The incident raised another common denominator in avalanche fatalities - the locations are usually far from a rescue response.

Of course, that is typically the case when people are caught in avalanches while they are snowmobiling in off-limit areas. Such places are restricted for a reason. They present inherent dangers to the snowmobilers, and they put rescuers at considerable risk.

Those who choose to place themselves in harm's way should keep in mind how they may be doing the same to others.