3 skiers killed in Stevens Pass avalanche

Three men who were considered to be world-class skiers were killed Sunday after an avalanche swept them some 1,500 feet down a chute in the backcountry, officials said.

41-year-old John Brenan, 46-year-old Jim Jack and 30-year-old Chris Rudolph were with a group of 13 similarly experienced skiers who left the ski area boundary, King County Sheriff's deputies said. Many of them were caught up in the slide, which happened around noon off Highway 2, east of Skykomish and near Milepost 61. 

The area is accessible from the top of the Seventh Heaven chairlift.

"It's very devastating to have three people pass away in an avalanche," Stevens Pass General Manager John Gifford said. "Even though it's outside the ski boundaries, it's very hard on the community."

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He said he had reports that the avalanche was 20 feet deep.

"This is where the slide started and this is the site of the rescue," he said as he gestured to a map, indicating a drop of about 2,000 feet.

Powder Magazine said it had staff members on scene who helped with the rescue. The magazine reported that one of the skiers triggered the avalanche, which started small and grew, burying three other skiers. A fourth skier caught in the slide, identified by ESPN as as pro skier Elyse Saugstad, survived by using an avalanche airbag.

"It kept her atop the avalanche and basically saved her life," Gifford said.

"She's a strong person, but I think she's pretty much in shock today by what happened," Saugstad's father, Mark Saugstad said. "They had a plan going, and they were planning on safe skiing, and things didn't work out."

Fellow skiers dug out the other three buried in the avalanche, and King County Sheriff's deputies said CPR was performed, but it wasn't enough to save the men.

King County deputies said Stevens Pass got 21 inches of snow last night and that the Northwest Avalanche Center had warned of high avalanche danger.

"They knew the risks, and this is where we're at," Gifford said.

The victims were not strangers to extreme, dangerous conditions.  An editor for ESPN Feeskiing magazine, who was with the group, said they were skiing the chute in sections, one by one, which is standard safety protocol.

Grief counselors were available for employees at Stevens Pass.

The director of the Friends of the Northwest Avalanche center issued a statement calling it a "very sad day," but reminded people that avalanche incidents are avoidable and said to always check the forecast before going into the backcountry.

Jack grew up in Pierce County and lived in Leavenworth.       He used to compete on the 'Freeskiing' world tour, and had recently been working as a judge on the tour.

Rudolph was the marketing manager at Stevens Pass, and also lived in Leavenworth.

Brenan, who was a husband and a father, was a contractor who lived in Leavenworth as well.