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BOUNTIFUL -- A snowmobiler caught in an avalanche in Davis County died from his injuries Sunday morning.
Stace Fleming, 48, was riding with friends Friday near Grandview Peak, a remote area about 7 miles southeast of Bountiful, when he triggered an avalanche that carried him 1,200 feet and buried him in 6 to 8 feet of snow.
Bruce Tremper of the Utah Avalanche Center said, "(He) went up the backside of Grandview Peak and then came down the slope and triggered the avalanche on the way down. Then (he) tried to outrun the avalanche and was thrown off his sled, probably from hitting the stock wall, as we call it."
Fleming was trapped under the snow for 15 to 20 minutes before crews could dig him out.
"The avalanche was very, very large," Tremper said. "It took out the entire slope. It broke all the way to the ground, about 4 or 5 feet deep, 250 feet wide."
Chopper 5 saw the rescue, as Fleming was hoisted into a medical helicopter and flown to University Hospital in extremely critical condition.
He succumbed to his injuries Sunday morning.
This is the third Utah avalanche death in just a week. Two Utah skiers were killed in separate avalanches, one near Snowbasin on Jan. 24, the other near Solitude on Jan. 27.
