Snowmobiler Dies in Wyoming Backcountry Avalanche

A snowmobiler was killed by an avalanche in the Wyoming backcountry on Sunday, January 11, 2026, local authorities said.

The accident happened in the LaBarge Creek area at around 2 p.m. and involved two snowmobilers, according to a report published by the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center.

The forecasters stated that one of the snowmobilers triggered the avalanche and was buried between two and three feet deep as the snow slid into a creek bed. His partner, noticing the lack of engine noises, returned and found the avalanche. 

“The rider had deployed his airbag in the slide, but the short distance the avalanche fell (~60 feet) allowed no time for the airbag to lift him to the surface,” the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center wrote.

The partner dug up the buried snowmobiler and started CPR, but the snowmobiler died as a result of being caught in the avalanche, police said.

“BTAC forecasters extend their deepest condolences to family, friends and others affected by this tragedy. Forecast staff will produce a more detailed report as more information becomes available,” the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center wrote.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received a report of the avalanche via a Garmin InReach notification. Star Valley Search and Rescue responded to the accident. The Sheriff’s Office identified the snowmobiler who was killed as Nicholas Bringhurst, 31, of Springville, Utah, in a news release.

The Lincoln County Coroner met with rescuers and took Bringhurst’s body.

“The Sheriff’s Office expresses our deepest sympathies to the Bringhurst family,” the Sheriff’s Office wrote in the release.

The Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center shared further preliminary information about the avalanche in the video below.

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