SEATTLE — One person is dead and five others survived after an avalanche Saturday morning in the Silver Basin region of the Crystal Mountain ski area.
Around 10:50 a.m., witnesses called ski patrol with a report that a group of six people were buried by an avalanche in a backcountry area.
Sgt. Darren Moss of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said those who survived were involved in a self rescue; it wasn’t immediately clear if those buried in snow rescued themselves, or were rescued by witnesses, he said. One person had stopped breathing and couldn’t be revived. Moss said witnesses called ski patrol, who advised the group to come down the mountain out of concern that snow hanging above the avalanche’s crown — a so-called “hang fire” — might put others in danger.
Officials didn’t immediately have details about the person who died or the five others who survived. Moss didn’t have details about whether anyone else required medical attention.
The ski resort’s winter season has only just begun, with limited lift operations this weekend in preparation for a full reopening on Monday. According to the resort’s mountain report on Saturday morning, snow was “packing up and wind is blowing strong.”
Officials at Crystal Mountain weren’t immediately available for comment.
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