Brian Wright, 37, of Whitefish, Montana, has been identified as the snowboarder whose body was found on Thursday, April 1, 2010 at the “bottom of a slide at the base of Mt. Shields in the southeaster part” of Glacier National Park, according to a story in the Great Falls Tribune.
He had climbed to the top of Mt. Shields countless times in the winter alone and with friends, according to friends and coworkers. . . . He apparently was the victim of a slide created by heavy snow last week on top of a spring-hardened base. The last U.S. Forest Service Glacier Country Avalanche Center advisory, issued on Friday, March 26, indicated wet snow avalanche danger was considerable between 5,000 and 7,000 feet. Mt. Shields stands just over 7,000 feet.
Wright was riding alone at the time and officials say there is no reason to believe that anyone else was buried in the slide. Our thoughts are with Wright’s family and friends.
[Update April 20, 2010: According to a story in the Missoulian, an investigative report suggests that Wright survived the avalanche, but died from his injuries while trying to walk back out. “His tracks intersected the avalanche run about 390 vertical feet below the summit, immediately below a steep pitch. Some 533 feet below that, “blood-stained snow was found among sapling-sized trees. . . .A snowboard track lead out of the avalanche path at that point, descending the mountain to 5,868 feet, where Wright’s snowboard was found. . . Wright’s body was discovered another 441 feet down mountain, face down on top of the avalanche debris with his head facing uphill.” His backpack and transceiver have not been found.]
[Link: Great Fall Tribune]
