Event narrative (NOAA)
Avalanche fatality occurred Saturday, 9 December 2000 between 1:30 pm and 2:00 pm. The put-in was in an area north of Dunkle Mine, around milepost 196 on the Parks Highway. The accident site was about 16 miles in from the road, just inside the park boundary.The victim (James Thompson, 44) went to help a stuck snowmachiner who had been "highmarking" on a hill which tapered into a ravine. The stuck snowmachiner got himself unstuck and rode downhill. The victim was just heading downslope when he was hit from behind (witnesses said he probably didn't even see the slide coming and thus, didn't accelerate to try to ride it out).The width of the slide was estimated between 1/4 and 1/2 miles wide. The victim was carried roughly 400 yards.Two or three people witnessed Thompson getting caught,
Other notable avalanche events in Alaska
Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database. Deaths and injuries are those NOAA classifies as direct. Damage is the reporting office's estimate at the time and is not inflation-adjusted. This is a catalogue record, not a forecast.