Alpenglow Ski Mountaineering History Project Home
Logan and Atkins - The Snowy Torrents, 1980-86
This table lists avalanche accidents in the Northwest (Canadian border to Mt Hood) from 1910 to 1986 found in the table on p. 244 of The Snowy Torrents, 1980-86. The table is entitled "Accidents in All Four Volumes of The Snowy Torrents, 1910-86". For descriptions of accidents before 1980, you need to refer to one of the earlier volumes. Note that not all Northwest avalanche accidents are listed in these books.In the following table, backcountry skiing accidents are shown in white. Accidents involving other activities are shown in blue. Some less interesting reports have been condensed. I've omitted accidents involving structures only. I have not differentiated between skier and snowboarder accidents and I refer to both groups as skiers. Lift skiers include anyone who uses lifts, or a combination of lifts and hiking, to reach the site of the avalanche, regardless of whether the avalanche occurs inside or outside ski area boundaries. I've reclassified snow ranger accidents as ski patrollers if the victims were working in a ski area with lifts.
| Accidents | Date | Location | Activity | Caught | Killed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3/1/1910 | Wellington, WA | Motorists or travelers (trains) | 99 | 96 |
| 1 | 7/22/1939 | Mt Baker, WA | Climbers (Bellingham College) | 25 | 6 |
| 1 | 2/7/1953 | Source Lake, WA | Ski tourers | 2 | 1 |
| 1 | 3/16/1958 | Silver Creek, WA | Snow rangers | 3 | 0 |
| 3 | 6/20/1959 to 12/30/1962 | WA (2), OR (1) | Climbers, ski patrollers | 9 | 3 |
| 1 | 2/5/1966 | Mt Baker, WA | Ski tourers | 5 | 1 |
| 9 | 3/11/1966 to 1/30/1969 | WA (8), OR (1) | Mostly ski patrollers and lift skiers | 14 | 0 |
| 1 | 2/14/1969 | Mt Rainier, WA | Snow ranger | 3 | 0 |
| 1 | 3/5/1969 | Alpental, WA | Ski patrollers | 2 | 0 |
| 1 | 3/9/1969 | Mt Rainier, WA | Ski tourer | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 12/13/1969 to 1/16/1971 | WA | Mostly ski patrollers and lift skiers | 10 | 2 |
| 1 | 1/24/1971 | Stevens Pass, WA | Residents (Yodelin) | 16 | 4 |
| 3 | 1/24/1971 to 1/27/1971 | WA | Highway workers, lift skier | 3 | 0 |
| 1 | 3/1/1972 | Mission Ridge, WA | Ski patrollers | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | 3/4/1972 to 4/22/1972 | WA | Workers, motorists | 6 | 0 |
| 1 | 4/22/1972 | Mt Baker, WA | Ski tourers | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | 5/10/1972 to 12/27/1973 | WA | Ski patrollers, climbers | 7 | 2 |
| 3 | 1/27/1974 to 1/17/1975 | WA | Climber, snowshoers | 4 | 3 |
| 1 | 4/26/1975 | Mt St Helens, WA | Climbers | 24 | 5 |
| 1 | 11/30/1975 | Mission Ridge, WA | Lift skier | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | 11/30/75 to 12/31/1977 | WA | Snowshoers, climbers | 7 | 4 |
| 1 | 4/23/1978 | Mt Rainier, WA | Ski tourers | 7 | 0 |
| 7 | 5/30/1978 to 1/19/1980 | WA | Climbers and snowshoers | 29 | 4 |
| 3 | 2/2/1980 to 3/17/1981 | WA (2), OR (1) | Ski patroller, lift skiers | 6 | 0 |
| 1 | 4/12/1981 | Source Lake, WA | Ski tourers | 6 | 0 |
| 1 | 6/21/1981 | Mt Rainier, WA | Climbers (Ingraham Glacier) | 22 | 11 |
| 8 | 6/20/1982 to 2/12/1985 | WA (7), OR (1) | Mostly climbers, ski patrollers | 18 | 6 |
| 1 | 2/15/1986 | Mt Rainier, WA | Ski tourer | 1 | 0 |
| 1 | 8/3/1986 | Mt Baker, WA | Climbers | 4 | 2 |
| - | After 1995 | Click here for accidents since 1995 | - | - | |
Return to the Alpenglow Ski Mountaineering History Project home page