Don't underestimate power of winter

It was a chilling example of the power of winter in the mountains.

Skiers and snowmobilers were playing in the backcountry in the Canyon Creek drainage on Sunday when disaster roared down a mountainside.

In a matter of seconds, a massive avalanche crashed down the slope near Fiberglass Hill, stretching 1,100 feet and ended up covering an area 800 feet wide, piling up debris 20 feet or more.

The avalanche left two skiers dead and two others presumed buried by the snow.

Sunday's slide was a stark reminder that winter recreation can be a seriously hazardous endeavor and snow is a particularly unforgiving surface.

If there's a bright spot to this tragedy, it's in the huge response by search and rescue organizations, law enforcement and ski resort personnel - and plenty of volunteers - who have spent hours and hours this week scouring the avalanche scene for possible additional victims.

The lesson from this tragic slide is one that has renewed intensity every time an avalanche strikes: Know the snow and weather before you go.

The grim results from Sunday's avalanche should underscore the maxim that awareness of avalanche danger as well as preparedness should be second nature for all backcountry travelers.

State wildlife officials recently shot a moose that had been causing trouble in the Canyon Creek drainage, an unfortunate turn of events.

But the decision to do so was based on practical judgment that the moose was likely to have confrontations with people again in the future.

The moose had repeated encounters with skiers and snowmobilers last week, forcing one man to defend himself with a ski pole.

And in late December, the same moose put its hooves to a snowmobile in the same area.

The bull, which recently had shed its antlers, had cloudy eyes and likely had very limited vision, which might explain its erratic and aggressive behavior and its poor physical condition.

"With this kind of abnormality, the animal was definitely dangerous," Fish, Wildlife and Parks Warden Captain Lee Anderson said.