Avalanche victim's body is recovered
<p>Gary Presson, left, and Rob Brenneke of the Flathead County Mountain Rescue team talk about map and compass readings Thursday morning during the search a missing skier in Jewel Basin. The skier's body later was found buried by an avalanche.</p>
A skier swept away by an avalanche in Jewel Basin on Wednesday afternoon was found dead nearly 24 hours later.
"They were able to recover him from under the snowpack and are still on site working on getting him out and back to civilization," Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said early Thursday afternoon.
"Conditions continue to be hazardous up there. We've triggered several smaller avalanches ourselves," Curry said.
Authorities have not released the name of the victim.
Rescue efforts, hampered by hazardous weather Wednesday afternoon and evening, resumed Thursday morning.
"We attempted last night to get crews in there but due to the darkness and heavy snow conditions we weren't able to get to the slide," Curry said Thursday.
About a foot of snow fell overnight in the Swan Mountain Range.
According to the Flathead National Forest, the brother of the victim called from Camp Misery to report the avalanche and buried skier at around 2 p.m. Wednesday.
The avalanche reportedly occurred on the north side of Twin Lakes about 2 1/2 miles by trail from Camp Misery.
"There was a party of two in there," Curry said. "One person was swept down the slide, the other was not."
The Sheriff's Office, North Valley Search and Rescue, Flathead County Search and Rescue and the Nordic Ski Patrol all were involved in the search effort.
The Glacier Country Avalanche Center's advisory this week rated the avalanche danger above 5,500 feet as "considerable," especially on steep, open and wind-loaded slopes. The Twin Lakes area is right around 6,000 feet.