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Montana avalanche victims identified; search continues for more
By Michael Jamison
Lee News Services
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WHITEFISH -- A 19-year-old from Kalispell and a 36-year-old Whitefish man have been identified as the skiers killed Sunday in a backcountry avalanche north of Whitefish Mountain Resort.

Anthony Kollmann, 19, is thought to have accidentally triggered the slide that rushed down onto a groomed snowmobile track that David Gogolak, among other skiers, was using to re-enter the resort boundary.

Gogolak, who moved to Whitefish only recently, was with his brother-in-law, also of Whitefish, when the snow began moving. Both men were buried, but Gogolak's brother-in-law was able to dig himself out.

Two other skiers, meanwhile, are believed to be buried in the massive slide, but their identities, and even their existence, continues to pose something of a mystery.

Snowmobilers who witnessed the avalanche reported that two additional skiers were swept away, but so far searchers have found no sign of additional victims, Flathead County Sheriff Mike Meehan said, and no one has been reported missing.

''We've been following up leads all day,'' Meehan said late Monday, ''and so far, nothing.''

Before the search for additional victims could continue Monday morning, explosives experts first had to blast away an overhanging lip of snow.

''Our first priority was to make sure our search and rescue people are safe,'' Meehan said. ''We couldn't get going with probe lines until the blasters assured us it was safe.''

Meehan's search and rescue squad, as well as other Flathead Valley rescue organizations and groups from both Lake and Lincoln counties, have been hunting since Sunday afternoon for the two unknown skiers.

''But it's a bit unsettling,'' Meehan said, ''because we still don't have anyone reported missing. It's hard when you just don't know what you've got up there.''

He said the two suspected victims ''are kind of an unknown. They could be visitors who just haven't been noticed missing yet, or they could be home in bed this morning.''

Undersheriff Pete Wingert said his department spent Sunday evening and Monday afternoon tracking down cars left overnight at the resort, trying to make sure their owners were accounted for. They also re-interviewed the snowmobilers who reported seeing the skiers, ''and they're pretty adamant that they saw what they saw,'' Meehan said.

''We just don't have any leads on who they might be,'' Wingert said, ''or even if they're actually up there. We're searching for ghosts.''

Nevertheless, at least 60 searchers and a small pack of trained dogs headed into the backcountry north of Columbia Falls at first light Monday.

Many had snowmobiled into the same area the day before, part of a team that recovered the bodies of Kollmann and Gogolak.

Meehan said Kollmann was killed when he triggered the slide while skiing on a steep south-facing slope. Gogolak was buried by the avalanche while hiking up the narrow canyon below, after skiing popular powder chutes not far out of bounds, on the north side of Whitefish Mountain Resort.

According to witnesses, Kollmann had packed a track up south-facing Fiberglass Hill, on the north side of the Canyon Creek drainage. Canyon Creek trailhead, located about five miles north of Columbia Falls on the North Fork Road, is a primary access into a large network of groomed snowmobile trails.

One of those trails leads to the summit of Big Mountain – and Fiberglass Hill, not far from the resort, is a common play stop for snowmobilers.

Skiers generally stick to the other side of the steep canyon, entering from the ski area, and then re-enter the resort via the snowmobile track that runs up the bottom of the gully.

That's what Gogolak and his brother-in-law were doing, hiking the trail back toward Whitefish Mountain Resort, when Kollmann apparently triggered the slide above, on Fiberglass Hill.

According to Meehan, Gogolak and his brother-in-law – both from Whitefish – saw the slide coming and dove for cover in the trees. The avalanche, however, filled the gully and even pushed its way up the other side, into the forested flank of Big Mountain.

Gogolak's brother-in-law was only partially buried, and was able to dig himself out. But Gogolak was lost beneath the slide.

His body was found some four hours later, buried in about three feet of snow and debris. He was not wearing an avalanche beacon.

Some search party members initially indicated he may have survived the slide only to suffocate before being dug out. But search leader Jordan White, who was at the scene when Gogolak was found, said Monday ''it was solid pack, very dense and wet.''

So tight, White said, that ''there's no way he survived the slide. It was immediate.''

There was no sign of spit – backcountry users are taught to spit when buried, to figure out which way is up – no sign of struggle, ''no signs of movement or life whatsoever.''

The other victim – Kollmann – was found alive within minutes of the slide, but died ''almost immediately'' from severe trauma, Meehan said.

Two snowmobilers, riding nearby but not caught in the avalanche, reported seeing two additional skiers hiking up the groomed track, well below the others who were swept away. The witnesses said those skiers were buried as well; thus Monday's continued search for victims.

''It's totally unknown'' whether those skiers actually are buried beneath the snow and debris that in some places is piled more than 30 feet deep, Meehan said, ''but we have a credible report they're in there, so that's what we're working on.''

The work began with the daybreak explosives, which successfully dropped a cracked cornice near the slide area. That cleared the way for the 60 or so search and rescue professionals to begin probing the snow with long poles.

The problem, White said, is the depth of the avalanche debris in many places exceeds the length of standard probe poles. In addition, he said, when the south-facing slope slid it not only filled the canyon bottom but also ran partway up the north-facing slope on the other side.

There it pushed through dense trees, snapping them off and burying them deep.

''It's a mess in there,'' White said. ''Lots of debris in beyond treeline. It requires a lot of digging and shoveling in a situation like that.''

Search teams used dogs to lead the way Monday, White said, hoping to better pinpoint spots of interest before the digging began in earnest.

''The dogs keyed in on a few small areas,'' Meehan said, but all those areas unfortunately were spots where snow is deepest. Crews used a large groomer machine to scrape away the top five feet or so from three sites of interest, Meehan said, ''but no luck.''

On Tuesday, he said, searchers will scrape more snow from the areas located by search dogs, and will continue digging and probing deeper. Meehan also hopes a specialized team of dogs from Fernie, B.C., will arrive Tuesday.

''It's tough terrain to dig in,'' the sheriff said. ''There's a lot of debris, a lot of downed trees and such. And it's piled 30 feet deep.''

Searchers left the scene at dark Monday, with plans to return at daybreak.

The Forest Service, meanwhile, has closed the entire area – including the popular ski lines around Flower Point – until the search is complete.

Fiberglass Hill is notorious for its avalanche danger, and indeed is named such because of the snowmobile parts and pieces left behind in earlier accidents and avalanches.

In fact, the state's first avalanche accident of the season happened there, when a Kalispell snowmoibler was buried. He was carried more than 300 feet, and sustained a broken femur in the Dec. 19 accident.

The following day, another snowmobiler, who had stepped away from his sled in the same area, lost his machine to yet another avalanche.

Sunday's avalanche deaths were the first of the season in Montana.

The last avalanche deaths in Flathead County were on Jan. 16, 2006. Two Kalispell snowmobilers were killed in that slide near Red Meadow Lake.

Reporter Michael Jamison can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or at mjamison@missoulian.com.

Take a look
Flathead County Sheriff, Mike Meehan, background right looks on as Search and Rescue units head into back country to help recovery efforts at Canyon Creek, Mont. on Monday, Jan. 14, 2007. Sunday's avalanche tore down trees and left snow 20 to 25 feet deep. Two skiers were killed, and rescuers pursued reports that two others might have been caught. (AP Photo/Rick Sheremeta)
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a wrote on Jan 14, 2008 10:58 PM:

" risky sport "
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