Avalanche kills area snowmobiler

SANDPOINT — A snowmobile rider from Washington state was killed by an avalanche on Saturday afternoon, Bonner County sheriff’s officials said.

The victim was identified as Marek Dabrowski, 32, of Newport, Wash.

The slide occurred at about 1 p.m. in Boundary County near McCormack Lake.

Bonner County Sheriff’s Lt. Ror Lakewold said another group of riders in the area east of Priest Lake witnessed the slope give way.

“It sounded like he didn’t even see it coming. It just overtook him,” said Lakewold.

Rick Sheppard, a Priest Lake Search & Rescue volunteer, was in the group that witnessed the deadly slide.

Sheppard said Dabrowski had descended about 10 percent of the ridge when a fracture about 4 feet deep and about 500 feet wide appeared above him.

“Instantly, the snow caught up to him and hit him from behind,” said Sheppard.

Dabrowski was riding with a companion, but that rider did not descend from the ridge.

Sheppard and his companions used an alternate route to descend the slide-prone slope to mount a rescue effort. They used their avalanche transceivers to locate the signal emanating from Dabrowski’s beacon.

Dabrowski was found in an upright position, but completely buried in about 4 feet of snow. Within minutes they had cleared snow from the man’s head and shoulders and began performing CPR.

They dug further so they could administer chest compressions, but Dobrowksi could not be revived, Sheppard said.

Priest Lake Search & Rescue Commander Mike Nielsen said avalanche conditions were too severe to safely transport Dabrowski out of the bowl via overland route. The recovery effort was suspended overnight and rescuers returned early Sunday morning, this time aided by a private helicopter pilot who flew Dabrowski’s body to Priest Lake’s Cavanaugh Bay.

The slide occurred on a steep, northeast-facing slope at an elevation of about 6,200 feet above sea level said.

The U.S. Forest Service’s Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center issued an advisory last week which rated slide conditions in the Selkirk Mountains as “moderate” below 5,500 feet with natural and human-triggered avalanches considered “possible.”

Avalanche forecasters warned that the danger rose to “considerable”  on wind-loaded lee slopes above 5,500 feet, cornice areas and places where slopes exceeded 30 degrees, according to the advisory. Natural and manmade slides were considered “probable” in these zones.

Additionally, Sheppard estimated that as much as 18 inches of new snow had fallen in the 24 hours that followed the advisory’s issuance.

“It was also clear the wind had blown a lot,” he said.

Sheppard said the bowl was frequented by many riders last week.

“The weekend before, there were countless snowmobilers in that exact same spot, riding down that exact same place,” said Sheppard.