Avalanche claims life of man in snowmobile accident

On March 27, at around 6 p.m. a snowmobiling outing resulted in a fatality of one individual when an avalanche occurred.

A group of individuals were snowmobiling in a basin near Oregon Peak in the Cedar Creek drainage area when an avalanche occurred. According to witnesses on scene the four members of the group, which consisted of friends and family, were in the basin, while two other members of the group had returned to the parking area from which they had started snowmobiling from. One member of the four who were still in the basin was at the bottom and the three other members were on top of a ridge when they started coming down one at a time. The victim, Timothy "TJ" James Grieser, who was identified by his father, was the last of the three to ride down.

Upon coming down, witnesses stated that the avalanche started as Grieser began his descent down the hill. Sergeant Bill Pandis of the Mineral County Sheriff's Office wrote in the press release that "witnesses stated that the victim appeared to know that the avalanche had started and he appeared to attempt to ride out of the avalanche."

Following the avalanche, members of the party who were on scene began to search for the victim using avalanche beacons. Beacons, also known as "beepers" or "peeps" emit a beep a radio signal in normal use, but may be switched to receive mode to locate a buried victim up to 80 meters away. According to the press release, party members found Grieser approximately five minutes after they started searching for him. They dug him out of the snow and attempted CPR, but they could not revive him.

While this was happening, an individual went to the area where they had parked and into a residence several miles down Cedar Creek where they called 911 for emergency services. Superior Ambulance services and Mineral County Search and Rescue were headed up to the area to assist with the incident when they met the group as they were coming down from the mountain. The witnesses alerted the medical teams that Grieser had died as a result of the avalanche.

Grieser was from St. Maries, Idaho.