A snowmobiler had to be rescued last week after suffering a serious leg injury from an avalanche on Mt. St. Helens.

Just after 2 p.m. on Monday, three snowmobilers were riding when they got stuck in deep snow. Fog began to roll in as they worked to get unstuck, so they all began heading home. As they started to accelerate, two of the riders accidentally drove off a cornice into Shoestring Gully, freefalling 20–30 feet into a 100-foot canyon.

The impact from the first rider triggered the avalanche, which spanned about 100 yards across the gully. That rider was unable to deploy his avalanche airbag; instead, he used a swimming motion to stay near the surface. He ended up pinned against his snowmobile but only suffered minor injuries.

The second rider did not know what had just happened and did not hear the third rider yelling for him to stop. He went over the edge and landed on the remaining snowpack, suffering a major leg injury.

The two riders were unable to self-extricate. The third rider found a safe route into the gully, dug out the first victim, and helped the injured rider before riding out to cell service to call for help.

Ten members of the Volcano Rescue Team responded. They navigated rough conditions to reach the riders and were able to package the injured rider, utilizing a rope system to lower him to the gully floor before transporting him with a snowmobile sled to Marble Mountain Sno-Park near Cougar. He was then taken to the hospital.