Weather hampers search efforts

By NICHOLAS LEDDEN/The Daily Inter Lake

Severe weather Tuesday morning forced rescuers to postpone their search effort for two skiers reported to have been buried in a massive Sunday afternoon avalanche near Fiberglass Hill in the Canyon Creek drainage.

Winds at the summit of Big Mountain were gusting Tuesday morning at 30 to 50 mph and the avalanche site was doused with 8 inches of fresh snow, causing blizzard-like conditions.

Heavy snow loading in the area prompted experts from the U.S. Forest Service and Nordic Ski Patrol to raise the avalanche danger to "high."

"Because of strong winds, new snow and cooling temperatures, unstable slab layers are likely on steep, wind-loaded slopes in all of the mountainous areas of Northwestern Montana," said a hazard analysis from the Glacier Country Avalanche Center. "Both natural and human-triggered avalanches are likely. Travel in avalanche terrain should be avoided."

The center said these weather conditions are expected to continue through at least tonight, and backcountry users should avoid traveling in avalanche terrain until snow conditions stabilize.

Tuesday night temperatures were expected to drop into single digits or lower.

Around noon on Tuesday, authorities determined the avalanche area was safe enough to insert a limited number of people, and 25 to 30 rescuers ran probe lines near where the lost skiers were thought to have been seen last.

Their efforts proved unsuccessful.

"Hopefully we'll get a break in the weather," said Flathead County Sheriff Mike Meehan, whose office is coordinating the search.

Dogs specially trained for avalanche rescues are expected to arrive today from Fernie, British Columbia.

The rescue operation will not be called off until the area has been successfully searched, said Flathead County Undersheriff Pete Wingert.

Whether that search turns up the bodies of additional skiers or disproves witness accounts that at least two other skiers were caught in the avalanche is still in question.

Two snowmobilers who witnessed the avalanche told authorities that in addition to the two men killed and one survivor, they saw two more skiers on the trail get swept up in the slide, which prompted officials to launch a search effort that has included teams from Flathead, Lake, and Lincoln counties.

When they were interviewed again Monday, the snowmobilers reaffirmed that they saw the two additional skiers, said Meehan, adding that he considers them credible reports.

Officials are expected to bring the snowmobilers to the avalanche site today after a third interview to establish some physical reference points to help in the search.

Investigators have yet to discover the existence of anybody buried under the snow.

The Sheriff's Office received 12 missing-persons reports Monday, but by Tuesday all of those people had been ruled out as potential victims of the avalanche.

Deputies identified five cars Monday left overnight in the Whitefish Mountain Resort parking lot, but were able to track down the people who drove them up there.

Skiers David Gogolak, 36, and Anthony Kollmann, 19, died Sunday in the slide. According to rescue personnel, Gogolak and his brother-in-law, both from Whitefish, were hiking up the north-facing slope of Big Mountain when the avalanche rumbled down the south-facing side of Fiberglass Hill.

Kollmann, from Kalispell, was reportedly skiing alone on Fiberglass Hill when the avalanche hit him. The cause of the avalanche is still under investigation, Meehan said.

Gogolak and his brother-in-law may have been attempting to re-enter the Whitefish Mountain Resort's boundaries on the groomed snowmobile trails that run along the Canyon Creek drainage.

Kollmann, who was found almost immediately after the 12:10 p.m. avalanche, died from injuries suffered in the slide. Gogolak's body was recovered about 4:30 p.m. under three feet of snow. Gogolak's brother-in-law, trapped only up to his chest, was not seriously injured.

The avalanche - estimated to be 250 yards wide, almost half a mile long, and 25 feet deep at its leading edge - crashed down the slope and partially up the wooded side of Big Mountain, sweeping up fallen trees and debris that are complicating the search for the two skiers still believed to be buried.

None of the people involved were wearing avalanche beacons, Meehan said.

The Fiberglass Hill and Flower Point areas are closed due to safety issues and the continuing search effort.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com