Utah snowmobiler killed in Star Valley avalanche

JACKSON (WNE) — A Utah snowmobiler died Sunday after being caught in an avalanche east of Star Valley.

Nicholas Matthew Bringhurst, 31, was riding in the LaBarge Creek drainage about a mile south of the Commissary Ridge weather station when he triggered an avalanche on a steep slope near a creekbed. The avalanche hit Bringhurst and his sled, burying him under about 2 feet of snow, according to the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center. His partner, riding nearby, noticed Bringhurst’s engine noise had stopped and rode back.

Bringhurst’s partner found the slide, dug him out and attempted to rescue him, performing CPR, but he could not be revived.

Bringhurst is the second person killed by an avalanche this year in western Wyoming. Nathaniel “Natty” Schneider, 31, died at an Idaho Falls hospital on Dec. 26, six days after a large avalanche on Teton Pass.

Lincoln County Coroner Dain Schwab told the News&Guide that Bringhurst likely died from asphyxiation caused by an avalanche, though he is still preparing a final report.

Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center forecasters visited the site of the avalanche after the slide and determined that it broke on a layer of surface hoar on top of a crust buried about 2 feet in the snowpack.

While surface hoar can remain a problem for a long time, it is not producing widespread avalanche activity in western Wyoming, said Avalanche Center Executive Director Frank Carus. Instead, it is being found in “isolated areas” like the area around LaBarge Creek. 

Because the problem is spotty, Carus advised backcountry skiers and snowboarders to avoid “terrain traps” like gullies that can cause snow to pile up on an avalanche victim. 

Skiers, riders and snowmobilers can help mitigate the problem by traveling safely, including by avoiding convexities, rollovers and creek beds that can produce avalanches in terrain traps.

This story was published on Jan. 14, 2026.