An avalanche that occurred Sunday afternoon, January 11 near Commissary Ridge has claimed the life of a Utah man.

Lincoln County Sheriff Shane Johnson said the department received a Garmin InReach notification of an injured snowmobiler in the LaBarge Creek area. Air Idaho had also been contacted and responded to the scene.

“Star Valley Search and Rescue was activated and responded,” stated Sheriff Johnson. “They found that Nicholas Bringhurst, age 31, of Springville, Utah had been caught in an avalanche. Bringhurst’s friend had located an unburied Bringhurst and initiated CPR. However, Bringhurst died as a result of being caught in the avalanche”

The Lincoln County Coroners office will determine the exact cause of death, according to Sheriff Johnson.

“The Sheriff’s Office expresses our deepest sympathies to the Bringhurst family,” Johnson concluded.

According to the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center, the snow “appears to have failed on the rain crust that formed around the Christmas holiday.” The avalanche center reports that the avalanche was snowmobile triggered on a small but steep slope above LaBarge Creek, and that the rider was “buried approximately two feet deep.”

Current avalanche conditions can be found at BridgerTetonAvalancheCenter.org.

Images courtesy the Bridger Teton Avalanche Center.