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One of four Touchet Valley-area snow bikers was swept by an avalanche and injured last Friday in the Blue Mountains near Table Rock, eventually requiring a helicopter to long line him out of the inaccessible terrain for transport to a Walla Walla hospital.
The avalanche came out of the upper area in this photo.
BLUE MOUNTAINS–A Dayton man was hospitalized with injuries sustained when the face of a snow field broke loose and an avalanche swept him about 10 yards downslope as he attempted to traverse the area on a snow bike around 10 a.m. Friday, December 2, in the general vicinity of Table Rock.
Officials have not released the victim's name.
The injured man was eventually hoisted out of the steep terrain by the Spokane County Sheriff's Office Huey helicopter, which delivered the patient to Table Rock for transfer to LifeFlight's helicopter, which transported him to Providence-St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla, said Fire District 3 Chief Jeromy Phinney.
Dispatch received the call for assistance at about 10:21 a.m. from Bradley Grende of Waitsburg, who was one of the four-man party of snow bikers enjoying an outing in the Blue Mountains, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.
The snow biker was not buried by the avalanche once it stopped its slide, according to Grende, who provided information about the incident to the Dayton Chronicle. He sustained injuries to his leg and/or pelvis, Grende and CCSO reports indicated.
LifeFlight's helicopter was initially dispatched due to the difficulty for ground crews to reach the remote location, Phinney said. Search and rescue parties from Dayton and Walla Walla were activated, and snow cats from Kyle's Towing and Bluewood were involved in the operation.
The four snow bikers were equipped with personal GPS units, avalanche bags, beacons, probes, shovel and radios, Grende said.
"Thank God he wasn't buried," Grende told the Chronicle, "and I could see him moving. We got him on the radio and he said he was hurt."
The foursome had stopped for a snack and to assess the snow field they were about to cross, Grende said, with plans to continue to Bone Springs Warming Shelter for lunch. "We thought that hillside had relieved itself," Grende said, "so we decided to go one at a time. He went first and was about ninety percent of the way across when the whole hillside broke loose."
