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An avalanche in Grand Teton National Park has claimed the life of snowboard mountaineer Jarad Spackman.

Spackman, a well-known Teton County resident and realtor, was caught while ascending the Apocalypse Couloir near the mouth of Death Canyon. He was carried approximately 1,000 feet, and his partner was unable to revive him, according to a park release. He was 40 years old.

The full press release follows after the jump.

Spackman was an experienced mountaineer who notched dozens of difficult descents throughout the Teton Range in the last 10 to 15 years. Only two weeks ago he explored a new route in the same area of Death Canyon with his brother, Brandon, and writer Christian Beckwith, who chronicled the experience.

This horrific news leaves many of us numb right now. My deepest condolences go out to Jarad’s family and friends.

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Posted under Deaths, Environment, Sports

Tags: avalanches, backcountry, grand teton national park, skiing, snowboarding

No sooner had skiers and riders relearned the joy of fresh powder yesterday than two people died in separate avalanches around Jackson.

Grand Teton National Park has identified the man killed in a slide in the northern part of the range as Nick Gillespie, a seasonal worker.

Gillespie was skiing with three companions on Survey Peak when the slide occurred, said spokeswoman Jackie Skaggs.

Earlier today authorities identified another victim from an avalanche in Hoback Canyon as Liza Benson, 28.

Gillespie, 30, worked on the park’s trail crew for several years, Skaggs said. He and his party skied into the Berry Creek area on the west shore of Jackson Lake on Thursday and had spent several days in the backcountry.

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Posted under Deaths, Environment, Sports

Tags: avalanches, grand teton national park, powder, skiing, snowboarding

The Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center began issuing its online forecasts this week loaded with new graphics and features, in what forecaster Bob Comey calls a “soft opening” for the site.

Avalanche hazard and mountain weather forecasts are available for the Teton area twice daily, at 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Forecasts for the Greys River and Togwotee Pass areas are posted each morning.

New this year is a section called “Avalanche Problems,” which explains the type of hazard backcountry users should look for. A graphic illustrates the aspects and elevations where the problem can be found, and other metrics show the size, likelihood and distribution, as well as whether the trend is growing worse.

The center received grants from the Forest Service and 1 Percent for the Tetons to upgrade the service, which received more than 1.3 million visits via web, email and phone (307-733-2664) last winter. Online page views were up 65 percent, while the number of phone calls dropped in half.

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Posted under Environment, Media, Ski Resorts, Sports, Weather

Tags: avalanches, backcountry, jhmr, powder, skiing, snowboarding

A wave came crashing like a fist to the jaw
Delivered him wings, ‘Hey, look at me now’
~ Pearl Jam, Given to Fly

A public memorial service for ski mountaineers Steve Romeo and Chris Onufer will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the outdoor plaza at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. A reception will follow afterward at the Mangy Moose.

Romeo, 40, and Onufer, 42, died in an avalanche March 7 in Grand Teton National Park. They were ascending Ranger Peak when the slide occurred.

So much has been written about these two in recent days, and the loss so devastating, that it’s hard for me to add much. I had known both since we worked on the mountain at JHMR in the mid-1990s, me as a photographer and them running the lifts. When I started guiding whitewater on the Snake, Steve was a photographer in the canyon before joining the staff of Skinny Skis.

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Posted under Deaths, Media, Sports

Tags: avalanches, backcountry, ppp, skiing, writing

More details have emerged about yesterday’s avalanche that killed skiers Steve Romeo and Chris Onufer in Grand Teton National Park.

The two were skinning uphill within a few hundred feet of a saddle below the 11,355-foot summit of Ranger Peak when the slide occurred. The crown of the avalanche was at about 10,300 feet. The fracture was a soft slab about 3 feet deep and 600 feet wide.

Romeo and Onufer were carried nearly 3,000 feet down the mountain. The toe of the slide debris was at an elevation of about 7,200 feet and measured about 90 feet across. The average depth of the debris was about 6 feet.

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Posted under Deaths, Environment, Sports

Tags: avalanches, backcountry, grand teton national park, skiing