“Since the victim was traveling alone, several questions remain unanswered. To complicate the picture, the risk of avalanche prevented emergency services from intervening [rapidement] on the site and we can only infer the data with the photos of the site and discussions with the rescue team,” reads the report in English.
In the plot of events, it is reported that emergency services were alerted after a dog was found by a skier on Saturday December 28. His microchip pointed to a Quebec owner.
The search for a missing person was launched the next day by the sheriff’s office and Salt Lake County Search and Rescue. They had also been informed that a foreign vehicle had been parked for several days at Porter Fork.
The victim’s cell phone signals made it possible to narrow down the search area. In the afternoon, a skier reported debris and a pile of snow appearing to come from an avalanche on the west slope of Mount Raymond to once again clarify the intervention zone.
On December 30, rescuers turned to social media for clues that would help trace David Éthier. That day, the skier and a partner took the initiative to return to the area where the debris had been seen the day before. They then discovered the victim’s body, which had probably been buried for almost 36 hours.
The next day, explosives were used to cause four avalanches and secure the intervention site. It then became safer to recover Mr. Éthier’s body.
-“Since the traveler was alone, we can only rely on the circumstances to explain the event. David Éthier was in roadtrip in the western United States with his dog. Research shows he was a mountain athlete and backcountry snowboarder. He had climbed Mount Olympus the day before the accident,” the report reads.
“On December 28, he began the ascent of Porter Fork Pass, at 2800 meters. He would have started the descent in the direction he had determined. We don’t know what triggered the avalanche. We only know that he was trapped, transported and buried by the avalanche”
— Utah Avalanche Center Final Report
“On the day of the accident, the avalanche risk was high and an alert was in effect. We are saddened by this tragedy and we are writing these accident reports in the hope of learning more about the risks of off-piste activities,” concludes the Utah Avalanche Center.
