Idaho avalanche victim identified as Montana man

A 46-year-old Montana man has been identified as the victim of a weekend avalanche in Idaho's Island Park area.

Authorities said Monday that Raymond John Moe of Missoula was killed while riding a motorized snowbike about five miles from the Blue Creek trailhead on Saturday.

The slide was triggered when Moe and another rider in his group went off trail.

Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center director Doug Chabot says the avalanche was about 600 feet wide and eighteen inches deep.

All of the riders had emergency transceivers and rescue gear. But authorities said it took the remaining members of the group about forty minutes to find Moe and he died at the scene.

Earlier this month, a 36-year-old snowmobiler was killed by an avalanche near Island Park in Fremont County.

(by Associated Press)