Sacto 9-1-1

The skier who died in an avalanche on Thursday made a desperate effort to save himself by grabbing a tree only to be swept along by the slide that buried him.

That's according to an account on the website of the Sierra Avalanche Center, which notes that Benjamin Brackett, 29, of Olympic Valley, Placer County, and his two colleagues first tested the slope before he began to ski near Stanford Rock.

Recent storms have nearly doubled snow depth in many areas, increasing avalanche danger.

The skiers as a test dropped a cornice, which is windblown snow or ice, which released a slab of snow a few inches deep that spread across the slope.

Brackett then started to ski the slope. On his third turn, he triggered an avalanche of about one-foot deep.

Brackett grabbed a tree and was able to stop himself from being swept along in the slide. However, the avalanche then "stepped down" another 15-20 inches and pulled him away from his tree-hold, according to the avalanche center account.

He was carried down slope into trees. His partners skied to the trees to where they saw a ski protruding from the snowpack and used their locater beacons to find Brackett.

Brackett was buried in three feet of snow and was wrapped around trees. It took three minutes for his ski partners to get to their buried friend, according to the site.

He suffered severe traumatic injuries, according to the site.

Brackett worked for the Squaw Valley ski resort in food service and was remembered by the company as a friendly man who would be missed.

"Ben Brackett was a valued member of Squaw's culinary team since 2008 who had a smile and a friendly word for all his co-workers and our guests," read a statement from the resort. "Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family and friends. He will be truly missed by his friends, family and team members here at Squaw."

A Placer County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said the avalanche occurred in Ward Valley off Highway 89. The skier was located about 500 vertical feet below Stanford Rock, off the backside of the Alpine Meadows Ski Resort, but not at the resort itself.

The report of the injury was received about 2:50 p.m. Thursday. One of Brackett's companions was able to ski out of the area and notify authorities, according to a Placer Sheriff's Office news release.

The skiers were in rugged terrain in an area that was difficult to reach, according to rescuers on the scene. A snowcat, two snowmobiles and a team of skiers from the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue team were involved in the rescue effort that eventually brought Brackett to a hospital.

Avalanche experts warned that there is continued danger of slides in the Sierra.

"The bottom line is that there is potential for on-going, large destructive avalanches today - mostly those that would be human-triggered, but natural avalanches would not be outside the realm of possibility," said Brandon Schwartz, avalanche forecaster for the Sierra Avalanche Center.

The avalanche danger is present due to the recent accumulation of new snow and weak layers in old snow underneath.

Snow pack crystals change over time as they sit on the ground, Schwartz said. They can become weaker or stronger.

"At this point there are weaker layers in there in some of the shallow, old snow that we had prior to this recent significant snowfall that added a lot of new load on top of it," said Schwartz.

Danger is especially acute on northwest, north and northeast aspects of slopes.

"If you were to stand at the top of a hill and drop a ball and it would roll away from you to the north, that is a north aspect," said Schwartz.

His advice is to be careful. Back country skiing comes with considerable risk today, he said.

"I encourage people to check the Sierra Avalanche Center website for the most up-to-date information to give them an idea about what to expect in the backcountry today," he said.