Idaho avalanche kills 2 Gonzaga students

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WALLACE, Idaho -- Two snowboarders from Gonzaga University in Spokane were killed in an avalanche while snowboarding south of Mullan, Idaho, the Shoshone County Sheriff's Office said.

The dead were identified as Brian Brett, 23, of Bellingham, and Pete Tripp, 23, of Bend, Ore.

The Sheriff's Office said a third Gonzaga student who was snowboarding, Sean Forbes, 22, survived the Sunday avalanche and walked to a home to call for help.

Freezing rain and avalanche danger yesterday hampered efforts to reach the two victims, but a recovery team was able to remove the bodies by early afternoon, the Sheriff's Office said. They were taken to a funeral home in Kellogg.

The bodies were located before dawn, but searchers withdrew to regroup in the daylight.

The three were in the Lake Steven area and had snowshoed to the top of a ridge and were snowboarding down when the avalanche hit Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

Both of the buried snowboarders were wearing beacons.

Sheriff's deputies said Forbes tried to find his companions before walking out to get help.

The Sheriff's Office was notified about 6:45 p.m. Searchers who entered the high-risk area included the Shoshone County sheriff's office, county search and rescue, Forest Service and local volunteers.

The U.S. Forest Service had rated the avalanche danger in the area as moderate to considerable over the weekend.

The National Weather Service posted a winter storm watch for the area for yesterday.

In Bellingham, Brett's father, lawyer Dean Brett, said his son was trained and properly equipped.

"He loved the mountains," the elder Brett told the Bellingham Herald. "He was a strong adventurer ... smart, witty and full of fun."

After graduating from Sehome High School, Brett went to Chile to learn wilderness training. Childhood friend Ben Salisbury said the experience prepared Brett for college, re-igniting his passion for learning.

At Gonzaga, Brett studied philosophy.

During his junior year, he studied in Florence, Italy, using the time to explore Europe as well as Northern Africa.

After graduating from Gonzaga, he had planned to travel to New Zealand before applying to law school.

"He lived a life that was absolutely incapable of being ordinary," Salisbury said. "He lived with an incredible amount of principle for a 23-year-old."

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