Glacier Park avalanche victim ID'd

The victim of a deadly avalanche on Mt. Shields in Glacier National Park has been identified as 37-year-old Brian Wright, a part-time resident of Whitefish, according to the Flathead County Sheriff's Office.

The avalanche, which likely happened sometime between March 30 and March 31, was reported to Park officials on April 1 around 2 p.m. Wright's body was recovered at the base of the slide by 3 p.m. Park personnel used a helicopter in recovery efforts because of avalanche danger.

Wright died immediately at the scene, according to the sheriff coroner's report, and it is believed he is the only skier involved in the avalanche.

According to the report, Wright's friends had started a search April 1 when he had not been heard from for several days after leaving on a solo ski trip. The friends located Wright's vehicle near U.S. 2. Wright reportedly made frequent trips to the Mt. Shields backcountry area, west of Marias Pass.

The incident is the first avalanche-related death in Northwest Montana this season.

In an April 2 advisory, Glacier Country Avalanche Center rated the avalanche danger between 5,000 and 7,500 feet as "considerable" on steep and wind-loaded slopes. The advisory said natural avalanches are possible, while human-triggered avalanches are probable.

The Marias Pass area was the site of an avalanche earlier this season when a skier triggered a slide Feb. 13 on the northeast aspect of Elk Mountain, about two miles northeast of Mt. Shields. No one was injured in that slide.

The Continental Divide area along Highway 2, including Mt. Shields, Elk Mountain and Snowslip Mountain, is a popular backcountry skiing and hiking destination because of its easy accessibility. The area is also the site of frequent avalanches, particularly in the John Stevens Canyon, where slides have knocked freight trains off the tracks that run along the base of the mountains.