ISLAND PARK — After resuming recovery efforts on Thursday morning, search and rescue crews discovered the body of snowmobiler Adam Wayne Andersen, a 36-year-old man from Idaho Falls.
Anderson and several other snowmobilers were riding in the backcountry in the Centennial Mountains on Wednesday afternoon when an avalanche off of Mt. Jefferson swept Anderson under the snow.
Members of his group attempted to locate him but had no success.
After rescue operations were underway, Anderson’s snowmobile was discovered in the area he went missing. By that point, however, conditions were getting to be too dangerous for operations to make any further progress.
Fremont County Sheriff Len Humphries cited poor weather conditions and the risk of another avalanche as to why efforts to recover the man’s body were put on hold.
“The Life Flight pilot who flew the area late yesterday reported seeing a number of slides,” Humphries said.
Fremont County Search and Rescue and Sheriff’s Deputies started early Thursday morning to evaluate snow conditions and continue the search.
A rescue dog from Teton County Search and Rescue assisted efforts in the recovery operations, as did Air Ambulance services and Island Park Ambulance. Volunteer searchers were being accepted as well.
