Shortly after dropping in from the ridge above with my Dad and brother (see avalanche report from Jim Milligan below) I was riding in the trees in the bowl on the north side of Ant Knolls peak. The snow was great so I decided to ride out onto a steeper slope than I should have been on. After a couple of hop overs I looked up slope and saw the slope avalanche above me. I squeezed the throttle and pointed my skiis downhill. I was quickly in the middle of a full out avalanche. The snow on the hill turned into waves that I jumped over. I saw a gap in a group of trees below and pinned it in that direction. I jumped (almost) over a small (12 to 16-ft) tree. The top of the tree caught my A-Arm and knocked me off my sled. I ran downhill as the powder blast surrounded me. My sled was partially buried next to a tree at the edge of the debris pile but thankfully I made it out ok.
Lesson learned stick with the plan.
Our plan was to stay off the steep slopes but the amazing fresh snow was too tempting. Grateful to ride out yesterday.
[From Jim Milligan] On February 21, 2026 I was snowmobiling with two of my sons (17 & 23). I heard news of the fatal avalanche in the Ant Knolls / Snake Creek area earlier in the week. Before the ride I checked the avalanche forecast for the area. Before leaving our trailer at about 1pm at the Tibble Fork Reservoir parking lot we had a discussion about the avalanche hazards we could see. We had a discussion of what to do in case of a burial. Each of us was wearing beacons and carrying probes and shovels. We made a stop at the saddle south of Ant Knolls peak where we usually drop in to the lower bowl. Due to potential hazards we decided not to drop in here. We continued around the peak to about 0.5 miles north of Ant Knolls where we decided to drop in one by one. My 23 year old son went first and radioed to follow his track exactly because of avalanche debris on each side of his track.
Each of us made it down safely one by one while watching the others. We initially thought this avalanche occurred earlier but realized we may have remotely triggered this avalanche from the ridge or during descent. We re-grouped and my 23 year old son said he was going to ride in the trees. I told him to be careful! Soon after I watched as he was side-hilling and doing hop overs on a slope I was concerned about. I watched as the slope avalanched above him.
We will report this avalanche separately since he was caught and carried in a near miss that we are grateful to have survived!
