The avalanche risk is high in much of the western US. Here's what you need to know to stay safe
As a massive winter storm dumped snow across much of the western U.S., winter sport enthusiasts headed to ski resorts and backcountry slopes ahead of the long Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend.
But in many areas, the storm brought a high risk of avalanche conditions along with the wind and snow, with fatal results.
In northern Idaho, two men were rescued and a third was presumed dead after they were caught in an avalanche Thursday afternoon. Later that night the occupants of two vehicles escaped without injury after an avalanche buried their cars in another part of the state.
The first reported U.S. avalanche death of the season happened Wednesday morning in California,
