MULLAN, Idaho (AP) 鈥 Authorities in Idaho on Friday located and retrieved the body of a man who was caught in an avalanche while backcountry skiing with two other men who were rescued the previous day.
The two men were located after authorities received a GPS alert of a possible fatality in an avalanche near Stevens Peak close to the Montana border shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday, the Shoshone County Sheriff鈥檚 Office said in a statement posted on social media.
Authorities established communications using a GPS texting device with the two men. Following a search of the area, the pair were located and transported for medical care, the sheriff鈥檚 office said. One of the men suffered a broken arm, .
A discussion with the rescued men led authorities to believe the third man in the skiing party had perished at the avalanche site. After the search was postponed for the night, the body of the third skier was located Friday afternoon, the sheriff's office said.
The deceased man was identified by the Shoshone sheriff鈥檚 office as Corey J. Zalewski.
The recue of the two men and the search for the third in below-zero temperatures involved personnel from the sheriff's offices in Shoshone, Kootenai and Spokane counties, the U.S. Air Force and other regional emergency crews.
The area of the avalanche was several miles southwest of the Lookout Peak ski area and more than 90 miles (145 kilometers) from Missoula, Montana.
The area had been under an avalanche danger warning for several days because of snowfall and blowing winds that have created .
The Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center warned that avalanches triggered by human activity 鈥渞emain likely" on steeper terrain.
Another avalanche in central Idaho trapped two vehicles on Highway 21 Thursday night, along a notorious stretch of road dubbed 鈥渁valanche alley.鈥
Boise County Sheriff Scott Turner said the people inside were unharmed, and they managed to climb out their vehicle windows and use a cellphone to text 911. The region has limited cellular service, which can make it tough to get help.
鈥淲e encourage people that travel the backcountry to use some of the other technology, like the satellite Garmin devices,鈥 he said.
The winter was unusually dry until this week, which has led to a lot of pent-up demand from winter recreationists, Turner said. But the conditions are dangerous for recreationists and rescuers, he said.
鈥淲e had some snowmobilers stuck earlier Thursday, and the rescue personnel really had a hard time getting them out because there were avalanches coming down across the trail and the road,鈥 Turner said. Still, everyone made it home safely, he said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e encouraging everyone to stay in the lower areas this weekend,鈥 he said.
The Idaho avalanches came a day after the of the season was reported in California. An avalanche roared through a section of expert trails at the Palisades Tahoe ski resort near Lake Tahoe on Wednesday morning, trapping four people and killing one.
A second avalanche struck the same area near Lake Tahoe on Thursday, but there were no reported casualties.
In February, three members of a mountain climbing club from New York in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state.
Three climbers in Alaska鈥檚 Denali 好色tv Park died in May in two separate incidents the same day. in the park's backcountry and as they prepared to climb a peak known as Moose's Tooth. Their bodies were not found.
