A 35-year-old Utah man has died at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center after he was buried for a short time in the Commissary Ridge area of the Bridger-Teton National forest southeast of Star Valley.

Brennan Walpole was snowmobiling with a large group of Utah riders on Friday, Dec. 29 when accident occurred. The Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center reported he was wearing an airbag at the time, but it did not deploy. He was located with a beacon by other snowmobilers in his party.

Star Valley Search and Rescue responded to the scene Friday afternoon. They accessed the accident site from the Smith’s Fork trail head south of Afton.

Walpole was airlifted to the Idaho Falls hospital. Face-book posts note he was married and had three children. Funeral services will be held in Spanish Fork, Utah.

The Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center reported late last week that slab avalanches were possible throughout the Greys River region.

As of Monday, Jan. 1 the center reported:  “The general avalanche hazard remains ‘considerable.’ Conditions remain dangerous. Our snow-pack is unstable due to its poor structure, persistent weak layers of faceted snow on top of a hard crust. Large slab avalanches are likely to be triggered by the weight of a single person in steep active avalanche paths that have not recently slid. The crowns of these avalanches will be 2 to 4 feet deep above an elevation of 8,000 feet and 1 to 2 feet deep between an elevation of 7,000 and 8,000 feet. Expert terrain analysis skills and conservative terrain choices are essential for safe travel in avalanche terrain.”

Noting the trend through, Jan. 3, the center advised, “Dry weather will continue with a slow warming trend. Conditions will remain favorable for serious avalanche accidents.”

The center summarized, “A cold front that moved through western Wyoming yesterday afternoon brought a trace to two inches of new snow to the region. Skies were clear today in the wake of that cold front. Temperatures dropped into the single digits early this morning and rose into the teens today. The strong winds that have been raking the peaks for the last ten days finally relaxed and became westerly at 10 to 15 miles per hour. New surface hour growth was observed on the snow surface [Monday]  morning.”