Alpine, Wyoming – An Alpine man was killed in an avalanche Sunday in Prater Canyon east of Star Valley Ranch. The Lincoln County Coroner identified the skier buried in the snow slide Sunday morning as 41-year-old David Rice. The coroner said Rice “recently resided in Alpine but is originally from Jackson.” Rice sold his Jackson music store, according to the County Coroner. Rice and another skier were in Prater Canyon’s backcountry. The avalanche hit around 11:45 a.m. Star Valley Search & Rescue originally responded but requested Teton County SAR helicopter aid. Rescuers found Rice unresponsive.
The tragic avalanche occurred in Prater Canyon east of Star Valley Ranch. The Bridger-Teton Avalanche Centre reported, “The party skied several hundred vertical feet from the ridge without incident. After regrouping and debating route strategy for the next pitch, the second skier deviated from the planned route and triggered a 2-3′ thick and 50′ broad soft slab on steeper terrain near a gully. The victim was dragged through brush and trees by debris in the gully. Skier 2 was 2 feet beneath snow.”
A beacon search found Rice, who was extracted in less than 15 minutes, according to the avalanche centre. Rice had a leg injury and was pulseless. CPR lasted 1.5 hours. “Due to the nature of the visible leg injury and the subject’s position in the debris, it seems most likely that the skier was unconscious when the debris came to rest and may have died of trauma,” the study adds. Avalanche risk is high in Greys River. A detailed avalanche forecast is at BridgerTetonAvalancheCenter.org.