Officials with the King County Sheriff’s office reported that three people were killed on Sunday in a Washington avalanche. According to Deputy Chris Bedker, the skiers were in a designated out-of-bounds area, but the area was opened and they were allowed to ski there. All the skiers were experienced and equipped with the appropriate gear, but nature occurred as several of them were swept as far as 1,500 to 2,000 feet down. The skiers had avalanche beacons and one wore an avalanche rescue system, which operates like an airbag and helped her survive.
Spokeswoman Katie Larson said, “Almost all of them — probably up to 12 at some point — are buried in the snow. They manage to dig themselves out … At that point then, they look and they find that three of these skiers are suffering from medical issues. They begin CPR and, unfortunately, they were not able to resuscitate the victims.” The area received more than two feet of snow on Saturday night and was reported as having high avalanche danger on Sunday.
