Idaho doctor killed in weekend avalanche

MACKAY — A backcountry skier has died after being buried by an avalanche in Idaho, officials said.

The avalanche occurred Friday as two experienced backcountry skiers were traveling on Donaldson Peak in Idaho’s Lost River Range, the Sawtooth Avalanche Center said.

A skier triggered the slope collapse as he was descending toward where the two were going to ski. He was caught in a small avalanche, which triggered a second, larger avalanche.

The second skier used a satellite communications device to call for help, then a rescue transceiver and a probe boom to locate the first skier buried under about five feet of snow.

She performed CPR on the first skier after digging him up with a shovel. Search and rescue teams evacuated him, but he did not survive.

Fox News identifies the dead skier as Dr. Terrence “Terry” O’Connor, a nature-loving doctor from Ketchum who reportedly worked as an emergency room doctor at St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center.

The Idaho EMS Physicians Commission, of which O’Connor was a member, honored him in a Facebook post Saturday morning.

“Terry was an exceptional physician and played a pivotal role in the early days of the COVID pandemic, truly demonstrating the public health role of the medical director of emergency medical services within a community,” the Commission wrote. “His loss will be missed not only in the Valley itself, but throughout the state and region. We extend our condolences to his family and the Wood River Fire and EMS community.

Both O’Connor and his ski partner were experienced backcountry skiers, according to the Sawtooth Avalanche Center.

Two more men were killed Friday in another avalanche near Salt Lake City.

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This death brings to 16 the number of avalanche deaths this winter in the United States, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. In the United States, an average of 30 people die in avalanches each year.

Avalanche safety specialists say their job has become more difficult in recent years. An increasing number of skiers, snowboarders and snowmobilers are also visiting backcountry areas since the COVID-19 pandemic.