ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A wall of snow 30 feet deep swept down an Alaskan mountainside, killing two snowmobilers and injuring three others, authorities said. Two others were missing.
One witness said he saw four snowmobilers buried Sunday beneath the avalanche, which extended about a half-mile across the face of a mountain high in Turnagain Pass, a popular recreation area in the Chugach National Forest.Two avalanches occurred about 20 minutes apart high on the mountain, observers said.
The first slide, which broke loose around 4 p.m., filled a ravine and scattered some of the hundreds of snowmobilers in the area.
The second slide was the killer, said Brian Stewart, who was on his snowmobile when the bigger avalanche roared down a ridge about 2,000 feet above the Seward Highway.
"I watched a guy halfway up the mountain get his machine stuck, and as he was digging it out the slide broke," Stewart said in a telephone interview Sunday night. "A 30-foot wall of snow hit him and the machine. He flew up in the air."
Stewart said he saw three other riders buried while he was speeding away from the slide area.
The avalanche sounded like a train as it swept down the mountain, and the wind it generated blasted scores of observers, stinging them with snow, Stewart said.
One of the victims was uncovered about 40 minutes later, dug out from beneath 10 feet of snow. Stewart and others tried to revive the victim for about 20 minutes before giving up.
The search was suspended when darkness fell shortly after 8 p.m., said Greg Wilkinson, a spokesman for the Alaska State Troopers. The search was to resume at first light Monday, he said.
The avalanches did not come as a surprise. The National Weather Service and the U.S. Forest Service issued warnings last week that heavy snow followed by warm temperatures had boosted the odds for slides in the area.