Avalanche claims one

A 58-year-old South Dakota man is dead following an avalanche in the Encampment River Wilderness on March 12.

At approximately 1:02 p.m., the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) received a call from Roy Simonson of Rapid City, South Dakota. Simonson reported himself and Jon P. LaFramboise, also of Rapid City, had been caught in an avalanche while snowmobiling near Hog Park in the Sierra Madre mountain range. He also reported he had performed CPR on LaFramboise, but couldn’t find a pulse and noted LaFramboise still wasn’t breathing.

CCSO Deputy Patrick Patterson responded to the call and activated search and rescue units from Saratoga, Ryan Park and Encampment. Patterson also requested the Saratoga search members bring the snowcat for the call. Four members of search and rescue were on snowmobiles with two members and Patterson in the snowcat.

Due to the location given by Simonson, the search team was unable to reach the party. The snowcat was staged while snowmobile riders searched the surrounding area for a trail which would lead to Simonson and LaFramboise. Eventually, Patterson requested Classic Air fly over the area to determine the location of the avalanche and how to reach the missing party.

At approximately 4:30 p.m., Classic Air departed from Rawlins and arrived at the scene 30 minutes later. The flight crew located the missing snowmobilers, located two snowmobile riders with search and rescue and guided them to the scene. The search and rescue team was able to locate the avalanche and Simonson and LaFramboise at 5:30 p.m.

Due to the weather and approaching nightfall, the decision was made by search and rescue to bring in Simonson and retrieve LaFramboise the following day. All search teams departed the area around 5:45 p.m. and returned to the parking lot at 7 p.m.

On March 13, at 8 a.m., search and rescue met at Forest Service Road 550 and Highway 70. After the equipment was prepared, a total of 13 members departed the area to conduct the recovery of LaFramboise. The team arrived at the site of the avalanche around 9:38 a.m. Due to the reporting party not having anyone available, the snow machine and personal equipment were also recovered by search and rescue.

At 11:13 a.m., all members of the team had returned to the parking lot and all equipment was accounted for. The remains of LaFramboise were turned over to the coroner while the snowmobile and equipment were given to a friend of the deceased.

Prior to the search and rescue teams departing, the BCA (Backcountry Access) float was tested and inflated properly. The device had not been activated during the avalanche.

The search and rescue members involved in the rescue of Simonson and recovery of LaFramboise were Lester Thompson, Cory Nuhn, Charles McVey, Levi Wolfe, Randy Sykes, Bruce Romios, Andrew Myers, Homer Beach, Sam Sikes, Bub Barkhurst, Brody Barkhurst, Dan Barkhurst, Kevin Shue, Trevor Vorn, Jack Leiseth, Paul Young, Colten Miller, Jason Burke, Anthony Rakness and James Willis.