Avalanche advice:

Beware the 'power of Mother Nature'

By DILLON TABISH/Daily Inter Lake

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, Jan. 13, 2008, at Fiberglass Hill, a popular spot for backcountry snow just off the north side of Big Mountain.

Sitting back in the plush powder, Todd Wharton and his brother-in-law David Gogolak gazed out at the long range of white mountains beneath the big sky, blue as a robin's egg.

The pair, who grew up together in Connecticut before moving their families to Whitefish, had put in a full day of skiing and unbuckled their bindings for a short moment of relaxation before hiking back in-bounds to Whitefish Mountain Resort.

The sun was shining and they remarked at how peaceful it was.

Then Gogolak raised his voice: "Hey Todd, avalanche."

WHARTON turned and looked up mountain. A great white wave of snow was rushing down directly toward the two men.

Wharton looked at his brother-in-law for the last time and yelled, "Run!"

The next thing he remembers is being completely submerged in snow.

Only a few feet had covered Wharton and he thrust his arms up, breaking through the top layer, gasping for air. But the snow kept pouring in like cement and buried him once more. Gasping, drowning in ice-cold snow, he fought his way upward until he broke through and pulled himself out.

The area was completely white. Treetops peeked up from the ground, but there was no sign of Gogolak.

Wharton screamed his name, again and again.

"David!"

Silence.

A snowmobile came humming in from the distance. But Wharton climbed to his feet and began digging furiously into the ground where he thought Gogolak might be.

Pretty soon a whole rescue team made up of professionals and day skiers hoping to help arrived and combed the area.

For hours, searchers tried finding Gogolak and another young man who was believed to be under the massive slide.

Almost a year later, Wharton stood before a packed crowd at the KM Theater in downtown Kalispell and retold the story of that tragic day on Fiberglass Hill.

Gogolak's body eventually was found along with that of the other skier, Anthony Kollman of Kalispell. Gogolak was 36 and Kollman was 19.

Avalanche experts estimated that the slide was started after Kollman, who was skiing above Wharton and Gogolak, took two sharp turns that cut loose an 800-foot-wide wave of snow that moved 1,100 feet downhill in a matter of 40 seconds.

"The power of Mother Nature is incredible," Wharton warned the crowd.

"Be smart, because you don't ever want to be up here saying 'Mother Nature killed my best friend, David Peter Gogolak, beloved husband and father of two.'"

Wharton's appearance at the KM on Dec. 1 came as a preamble to ski - and avalanche - season.

Avalanche expert Bruce Tremper took the stage after Wharton and spoke for an hour on the serious threat of avalanches and how anyone could find themselves in a situation similar to that of Wharton and his brother-in-law.

"The tragedies bring us here," said Tremper, director of the Utah Avalanche Center and author of "Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain."

Avalanches kill an estimated 30 people per year nationwide.

New technologies have been developed to aid in avalanche rescues, but Tremper said nothing replaces good awareness and a "good working brain."

Skiers, snowmobilers and everyday recreationists could find themselves staring up at an incoming slide, he said.

When the time comes and an avalanche drops, people can only rely on themselves and those around them for help until professionals can arrive.

"You are the rescue crew," said Tremper, who has survived two avalanches himself. "By the time you go for help it's too late."

Greg Fortin, an avalanche instructor for the Flathead Nordic Ski Patrol, immediately heard about the Fiberglass Hill avalanche last January. Having skied that same stretch, as many people do, Fortin feared that any number of people, including those he knew, were taken under.

"If that would have been a Saturday afternoon instead of a Sunday, there could have been 30 people buried," Fortin said.

The two fatalities became another reminder of how real avalanche threats are.

"It's always unfortunate when something like that happens, but it also opens people's eyes," Fortin said. "It's a reality check. A million times nothing might not happen but one time it could happen."

Fortin is working with area groups like the Glacier Country Avalanche Center, which organized the Dec. 1 event with Tremper, to provide as many opportunities as possible.

The U.S. Forest Service continues to offer free education and workshops in conjunction with avalanche center.

"Everybody who recreates on public land has a responsibly to be prepared," forest spokeswoman Denise Germann said. "These classes and workshops are all free, which is an excellent opportunity for folks in Northwestern Montana."

The Forest Service also is starting up its weekly avalanche advisories, which can be found online every Friday morning. The advisories will move to twice-a-week starting the third week of December. (Information can be found online at www.glacieravalanche.org or at 406-758-5295)

Ben Stormes, who owns Whitefish Backcountry, is taking avalanche education in the valley to a higher level as well. Stormes' company is hosting several presentations with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education.

Stormes said he chose to bring institute instructors to the valley because the program's curriculum has earned praise nationally and even internationally.

"They've spent 15 years developing a curriculum, and they've worked on it long and hard," Stormes said.

Years of researching incidents showed institute officials what they needed to teach recreationists. "It focuses on

decision-making, not on rescue," Stormes said. "By the time you're rescuing, you already have a problem.

"The real fact is people don't survive avalanches. The ones who do are very lucky. They're like a car wreck, you just don't want to be in one."

The institute programs involve classroom discussions and tons of field work.

"I strongly believe that you can't have too much education or practice in the backcountry," Stormes said.

More information can be found on the Internet at:

http://www.whitefishbackcountry.com

Reporter Dillon Tabish can be reached at 758-4463, or by e-mail at dtabish@dailyinterlake.com