Update On Avalanche Fatality

Additional details have been received on the avalanche fatality reported yesterday. Late on Sunday night, the park received a report that two winter travelers were overdue from a winter backcountry trip in Sequoia National Park. A search and rescue effort began immediately. Early on Monday morning, two teams of rescuers with advanced technical winter travel skills began skiing from Wolverton, near Giant Forest, toward the Pear Lake ski hut, looking for signs of the two men. About five hours later, searchers located the body of Morgan Cowles, 39, among trees at the bottom of an avalanche chute. A medical assessment was conducted, but no sign of life was found. The two rescue teams then joined and followed the tracks of the second man, who was found in good condition and escorted out of the backcountry by the team. The two men had spent Saturday night at the Pear Lake Ski Hut, approximately six miles from Wolverton. On Sunday, they left the hut, intending to ski and snowboard out, but were caught in a severe snow and windstorm that caused whiteout conditions. They were carrying a tent and camping gear and camped overnight at Heather Lake, approximately four miles from Wolverton. They set out again on Monday morning but lost the trail. They were crossing a steep slope where the avalanche occurred. The initial investigation indicates that both men were swept more than 200 yard downslope in the avalanche. Both men were experienced in safe winter over-snow travel and knowledgeable about avalanches. Each was equipped with an avalanche beacon. They appeared to have followed safe practices for traveling in avalanche zones. However, with the recent heavy snowfall after a significant rain earlier in the week, conditions were especially unstable at the time the avalanche occurred. These conditions delayed recovery of the body until Tuesday. A team comprised of six members of the Tulare County Sheriff's Office search and rescue team, four rangers and two local volunteer search and rescuers, with the assistance of a helicopter, recovered the body and transferred it to the Tulare County coroner. Parks staff can recall no avalanche deaths in Sequoia and Kings Canyon in the past several decades, though the southern Sierra Nevadas often have high avalanche danger.