Snow survivor

By MIKE RICHESON

Bigfork Eagle

An illegal joyride into the Jewel Basin turned deadly last Thursday when an avalanche near Wildcat Lake buried Creston resident Ryan Roberts. Roberts survived after being trapped under the snow for almost eight hours.

Roberts’ riding partners, friend Ryan Sonju and uncle Kevin Roberts, spent more than two hours digging through feet of snow while trying to find Roberts. The pair was exhausted and decided to head to high ground in hopes of finding cell phone reception.

Dispatchers for 911 received a call at 6:23 p.m., and volunteer search and rescue teams began to immediately mobilize.

Members of Flathead Search and Rescue, Flathead Nordic Ski Patrol and North Valley Search and Rescue prepared for the difficult incursion into the Jewel Basin, which is located about 15 miles northeast of Bigfork.

Initial reports said that the avalanche had occurred near the Picnic Lakes, which is about 1.5 miles from the Camp Misery Parking lot, where most of the Jewel’s trail heads begin.

Search leaders set up a command post on the entry road to the Jewel Basin along Foothills Road and set up a secondary post at Camp Misery.

The Forest Service had a base near the Hungry Horse Dam, and officials were monitoring how many people were going in to assist the rescue operation.

“The avalanche danger was very high that day, and we knew there would be a lot of family and friends going in there,” White said.

The Flathead Nordic Ski Patrol took off from the Camp Misery post around 12:30 a.m., nearly six hours after the 911 call. Flathead County Search and Rescue Coordinator Jordan White strapped on a pair of snowshoes and joined the group.

“This was the first time I had been out in the field with them,” White said. “They are amazing athletes. We’re one of the only areas that has such a highly-qualified Nordic ski team.”

As the search team made its way up through the Noisy Creek Notch, White’s group received word that the avalanche had actually taken place at Twin Lakes rather than at the Picnic Lakes. White sent five skiers to the Picnic Lakes area and sent another three skiers to Twin Lakes.

The skiers dispatched to Picnic Lakes arrived at their destination around 1:30 a.m. and found no evidence of an avalanche or people.

White’s group dropped into the Twin Lakes basin and found nothing as well.

On the other side of the range - near the Hungry Horse Dam - Forest Service personnel received GPS coordinates that showed Roberts was actually near Wildcat Lake, substantially farther north than Twin Lakes.

White and the ski team climbed the steep ascent out of the Twin Lakes basin and began moving toward Wildcat Lake.

The weather conditions were terrible. Winds were howling at 30 mph and dense fog often reduced visibility to 25-50 feet. Finally, the search team began to hear sounds of snowmobiles.

“Ryan was up and walking around at that point, and they decided to take him out by snowmobile,” White said. “Just as we were getting there, we watched them ride out.”

White and his team covered nearly seven miles and 4,000 vertical feet in the frigid dark in less than five hours. He also said he was glad that Roberts was able to ride out of the Jewel Basin because alternative extraction methods weren’t going to be easy.

“We knew we weren’t going to be able to get him out on our Nordic rescue sled,” White said. “Our goal would have been to keep him alive until daylight. We had a Black Hawk helicopter ordered to fly out of Great Falls at 7 a.m.”

Paramedics went to the Wounded Buck area where Roberts and his rescuers - who ended up being members of his riding party - were headed. From there, Roberts was transferred to Kalispell Medical Regional Center where he received treatment.

In a released statement, Flathead County Sheriff Mike Meehan said “Such a rescue is a miracle made only more profound by the treacherous conditions encountered and the difficulty in accessing the scene of the incident.”

Roberts may have quite a survival story, but he and his riding partners will now be faced with stiff penalties for riding snowmobiles in the Jewel Basin, which has been off-limits to motorized vehicles for about 25 years.

Denise Germann, public affairs officer for Flathead National Forest, said that all three will definitely be cited.

Citations and fines could be as much as $5,000 per rider. Other penalties include up to six months in jail and confiscation of snowmobiles.