An avalanche in the backcountry near Longs Pass in northern Kittitas County killed two men Friday afternoon, January 9. The incident occurred around 4:00 p.m. while a group of four men was recreating in the area. Paul Markoff, 38, of North Bend, and Erik Henne, 43, of Snoqualmie Pass, were killed.
The two surviving members of the group sent a distress signal using a Garmin satellite device, prompting a response from the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office and Kittitas County Search and Rescue (KCSR) volunteers.
Responders traveled into the remote area on snowmobiles and with winter backcountry equipment and evacuated the two survivors that evening. Due to hazardous conditions, recovery efforts for the deceased were postponed overnight.
Search teams returned Saturday morning, January 10, with three trained avalanche search K9s. Given the rugged terrain, air support was requested, and King County’s Guardian 2 helicopter assisted by transporting the two deceased men to a search base, where they were transferred to the care of the Kittitas County Coroner’s Office.
In addition to recovering the victims, ground teams retrieved personal items from the scene, including the two snowmobiles used by the group. Representatives of the Northwest Avalanche Center came to the scene to assist in analyzing the accident.
[Information provided by the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office. Featured Image courtesy of the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page]
