After disaster struck, area Sheriff urges caution in the mountains

FREMONT COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) - After disaster struck last weekend, area sheriffs are encouraging that people use caution.

Fremont County Sheriff Len Humphries says after a successful weekend of training for the Search and Rescue team, that conditions are right in his county for a worst-case scenario.

"We've got about 46 inches of new snow on top of a layer of ice, which that's not good," he said.

Sheriff Humphries also said the most common cause of an avalanche is human intervention.

"You know, somebody is riding across the face of a mountain. It will cause it to release and then you have trouble," he said.

He encourages those who participate in winter recreations to have a beacon, and become familiar with how it works.

He says doing so allows you and your party to be safe and found in case you find yourself in a worst-case scenario. However, in the event that you find yourself in a worst-case scenario, Sheriff Humphries, says the Search and Rescue team is fully trained and equipped to help.

"We have a great search and rescue unit here in Fremont County," he said. "They're all volunteers. They put in a lot of hours. On their own time, they spend this last weekend, they were up in Island Park, checking and doing some training while they were doing it"

It was on this training trip that they saw conditions are ripe for disaster to strike. If you plan on going into the mountains this season and want to make sure you'll be safe, you can find a link to an avalanche forecasting site for Gallatin National Forest here.