First U.S. Avalanche Fatality Involves UCLA Grad Student

The body of Michael David Meyers, a 25-year-old graduate student at Los Angeles, Calif.’s UCLA, was found over the weekend, buried in avalanche debris in California’s John Muir Wilderness. Meyer reportedly went missing earlier this month, and his death marks the first avalanche fatality in the country this winter.

Mt. Russell (14,095 ft.) from Mt. Whitney. [Photo] Mitch Barrie

Mt. Russell (14,095 ft.) from Mt. Whitney. [Photo] Mitch Barrie

According to the Los Angeles Times, Meyer, an experienced hiker and climber, was last heard from on November 5 after texting his roommate to say he was hiking Mt. Russell in the Inyo National Forest. On November 18, a 40-person search-and-rescue team began looking for Meyer, following an itinerary he’d left and aided by two helicopters. Search and rescue found signs of the avalanche that claimed Meyer last Friday and recovered his body on Saturday.

“The winds have been upward to better than 100 miles an hour in that area over the Sierra Crest and [with] heavy snow falls,” Inyo County Sheriff Bill Lutze told ABC7, Los Angeles’s ABC affiliate, late last week. Mammoth Mountain, some 100 miles north of Mt. Russell, has already recorded 42 inches of snow this month at its 11,053-foot summit, and the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center reported 12-inch avalanche crowns observed by Mammoth Mountain Ski Patrol on Nov. 10.

“The recent storm came in with a graupel layer which is bonding poorly to the old snow interface,” the report states. “Even though there isn’t a ton of snow out there, there is still the potential to trigger and be caught in an avalanche.”

While avalanche danger in the Central and Eastern Sierra has lessened since last week, more snow and wind are forecasted for today and throughout the week.

Read more about the country’s first avalanche fatality in the Los Angeles Times.

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