Snowboarder missing, presumed dead, in Alaska avalanche

A 24-year-old snowboarder was buried in an Alaska avalanche yesterday and presumed dead.

Conditions were too severe to launch an immediate search for Brendan Smart, said Alaska State Troopers spokesman Greg Wilkinson.

Smart was on a slope with two other men when the avalanche struck mid-afternoon. The others escaped without injury.

The two survivors carried location beacons, but said they were unable to locate the buried snowboarder’s beacon signal, Wilkinson said. It was not known whether Smart had his beacon with him.

The avalanche fell from the 1,600-foot level of Marmot Mountain, cascading down over the snowboarder and into a ravine.

The area, 50 miles north of Anchorage, has been the site of previous avalanches, Wilkinson said.