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Tonya Papanikolas ReportingThe body of a snowboarder missing since a weekend avalanche has been found. Ryan Smedley's body was recovered around 12:30 this afternoon.
It's a sad scene today. Ryan's family and friends have been at the scene since Saturday, waiting for some news. Today they have brought flowers with a picture of Jesus over them, as part of a tribute and memorial to Ryan.
A lot of people knew the reality of going into the third day of this search, but they still held out hope. Regardless, hearing the news today that Ryan's body was found, brought them closure.
His family says that 34-year old Ryan Smedley was very familiar with Taylor's Canyon, near Snowbasin. He snowboarded there all the time. They say he was adventurous, but not reckless.
Smedley was caught in the avalanche as he and John Pincombe, 32, of Pleasant View were snowboarding in Taylor's Canyon Saturday. Smedley did not have a receiver or beacon on him. That made it a lot harder to find him.
They had reached the site by going through Snow Basin Ski Resort and going off the back side of the mountain. The area is not part of the resort and is not maintained against avalanches, Anderson said.
Pincombe searched for Smedley and called authorities from a cell phone to say his friend had been caught in a slide and he couldn't find him, according Capt. Klint Anderson of the Weber County Sheriff's Office.
Crews battled rough weather conditions over the weekend, but today, good weather allowed them to get up the canyon at 11 a.m. Helicopters dropped explosives for avalanche control work, then the dogs and search teams were able to go out. At about 12:30, dogs found Ryan's scent and crews found his body about 100 feet from where his friend had last seen him.
Crews took his body by helicopter to McKay-Dee hospital in Ogden.
His family talked about what a wonderful man he was.
George Smedley, Ryan's Brother: "He was the life of any kind of group or crowd. He had an infectious smile on him, and when he smiled, the twinkle in his eyes just came out at you."
Brent Mitchell: "Ryan was a special guy. He's always the guy that, if somebody needed a place to stay, Ryan had a place for him. If someone needed a job, Ryan had a job for him. He was just that kind of guy."
Ryan was the youngest of seven siblings. His family says they are a family of faith. They're going to miss Ryan, but they believe there was a plan for this. They said seeing all the people that came out to support them and wait for the news, was really uplifting to them.
(Associated Press Contributed to this Story.)
