Hungry Horse News

A local man is lucky to be alive after being buried by an avalanche between seven and eight hours Thursday night.

The man, whose name was not immediately released, was apparently snowmobiling with friends near Wildcat Lake when the avalanche was triggered, burying the man.

Members of the party, including the victim, won't get much a warm welcome by the Forest Service. Wildcat Lake is tucked inside the north corner of the Jewel Basin - an area off-limits to snowmobiles.

Forest Service spokeswoman Denise Germann said the three people involved in the incident would be cited for snowmobiling in a closed area. She said their names would not be released until they made court appearances.

The Flathead County Sheriff's Office was notified of the avalanche about 6:30 p.m., but the location of the slide was initially marked with confusion.

Searchers first started looking south in the Picnic Lakes area, because that's where they were told the slide was located.

But when they got to an overlook, they saw no avalanche.

They then were told to go north after rescuers were advised to check GPS coordinates and the man was found, alive, near Wildcat Lake.

Members of his party had found him and dug him out, still alive after about seven to eight hours after being buried.

The man was in critical condition at first, according to the Sheriff's Department, but improved to the point where he was able to ride out on a snowmobile where he was eventually transported to Kalispell Regional Medical Center for further treatment.

The Sheriff's Department did not release the man's name or members of his party.

This isn't the first time snowmobilers have entered the Jewel Basin illegally. Forest Service officials were investigating snowmobile entry into the Jewel and the Bob Marshall Wilderness a few weeks ago as well.

The Forest tracks these areas by doing aerial flight surveillance, Germann said.

She said the Jewel is also marked on the ground with signs that say its closed to snowmobiling.