On Sunday, January 11, 2026, at approximately 2pm, a party of two snowmobilers was involved in a fatal avalanche accident in the La Barge Creek drainage, about one mile south of the Commissary Ridge weather station (Figs. 1, 2). A rider triggered a weak layer buried approximately two feet below the surface while crossing a convex, west-facing 39-degree slope at 8,900’ (42.55660, -110.72401). The resulting avalanche slid onto flat ground in a creek drainage, burying the rider two to four feet deep. The rider deployed his airbag in the slide but the short distance that the avalanche fell (~70 feet) allowed no time for the airbag to lift him to the surface. The avalanche (SS-AMu-D2R2-O) failed on a layer of surface hoar that grew on top of a thin melt-freeze crust that developed during a dry period lasting from December 28th to the 31st.
Editor’s note: This final report corrects several details in the preliminary report. The primary change corrects the initial reports that the riders were riding separately at the time of the incident. In fact, the second rider’s close proximity allowed him to begin digging within three minutes of the avalanche. The relative size and vertical fall were corrected to R2 and 70 vertical feet.