Avalanches in Utah, Idaho raise awareness in Oregon.

Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard

Skiers love the fluff that new-fallen powder adds to firm, hard-packed snow. But add to that a temperature change, and trouble - in the form of an avalanche - can soon follow, local ski and wilderness experts say.

That's what happened at Mount Bachelor in the early morning hours of Dec. 9, 2004, when a massive snow slide tumbled a half mile down the mountain, taking out trees a foot in diameter. It was the largest avalanche there since the 1960s.

Luckily, it happened about 1 a.m., when no skiers were around.

Tragic events such as the ones that occurred last weekend in Utah and in northern Idaho - where a 23-year-old South Eugene High School graduate died - always raise the awareness that it could happen here, said Tom Lomax, the mountain operations manager at Bachelor. But severe avalanches at the popular ski resort and others in Oregon are rare, Lomax said.

As many as five skiers were feared dead Friday when a 16-acre field of snow slid in an out-of-bounds area marked with skull-and-crossbones warning signs at The Canyons resort near Park City, Utah. Only the body of a 27-year-old Sandpoint, Idaho, man had been found Monday as rescuers called off the search.

Two snowboarders from Gonzaga University in Spokane, including Pete Tripp, 23, a 2000 South Eugene graduate, were killed south of Mullen, Idaho, on Sunday after an avalanche buried them. The men were snowboarding in a backcountry area that the U.S. Forest Service said had "moderate to considerable" avalanche potential over the weekend.

"When people leave the boundaries, they're on their own," said Ray Gardner, the general manager at Willamette Pass, where employees ski the mountain early every morning to make sure there's no loose snow.

If they find it, they'll knock it down before a skier gets caught in a slide, he said.

But "it's not a huge issue," Gardner said. "We're lucky because we're tucked in the trees and don't have big bowls."

At Mount Bachelor, explosives are used to trigger avalanches whenever ski operators think it's necessary or following any significant snowfall, said Lomax, who is unaware of any avalanche deaths ever occurring on the mountain. "We monitor our snow conditions and check avalanche conditions on a daily basis," he said.

Chris Sabo, a wilderness and trails specialist with the Deschutes National Forest, said those who venture into Central Oregon's snowy backcountry should have some training and experience and avoid slopes with the potential for sliding. "It's people not knowing the conditions and getting in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.

A snowboarder died in the mid-1990s near Todd Lake in the Deschutes National Forest, on an extreme slope heavily loaded with snow, after he triggered an avalanche, Sabo said. Another man lucked out in January 1998 at Newberry Crater in Central Oregon when his snowmobile got buried in 5 feet of snow after it triggered an avalanche, he said. Friends were able to probe the snow with tree branches to locate him, and then dig him out with part of his broken windshield.

If you're going to venture onto extreme slopes, be prepared, Sabo said. Take avalanche beacons, probes and shovels, and have another party back you up in case something happens.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

AVALANCHE AWARENESS CLINIC

The University of Oregon's Outdoor Program will hold a two-part clinic on the basics of avalanche awareness and backcountry travel on Feb. 3 and 6. Call 346-4565 for more information and locations.

Feb. 3: There's no charge for the 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. session. Learn about snow characteristics, route-finding and rescue techniques.

Feb. 6: $10 fee for this all-day session and field trip - an opportunity to practice beacon searches, probe lines and snow assessment. You can register at the Outdoor Program's office at the UO's Erb Memorial Union.