2008 Avalanche News

Pass avalanche kills moose
By Angus M. Thuermer Jr., Jackson Hole, Wyo.
January 2, 2009

A moose was the victim of an avalanche on the west side of Teton Pass during the recent series of snow slides that twice closed Highway 22 between Wilson and Victor, Idaho.

Highway crews found the carcass Monday in debris on the highway in the Coal Creek area while clearing the road. Workers figure the animal might have triggered the avalanche, which dumped 15 feet of snow on the road.

Workers took extraordinary measures to protect the road from avalanches during the holiday week, including hiring a helicopter to ferry and set large amounts of explosives in known avalanche tracks, a spokeswoman for the Wyoming Department of Transportation said in a statement.

A natural avalanche closed the pass first Sunday night. That night crews set off explosives, plowed the road free and opened it the next morning.

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