Authorities say avalanches have killed a snowmobiler in Montana and a cross-country skier in Wyoming.
Doug Chabot with the Gallatin National Forest says the snowmobiler triggered the slide about noon on Saturday north of Cooke City in southwestern Montana.
He says two hours later a skier in the North Absaroka Wilderness in Wyoming traveling on flat ground was engulfed by an avalanche that swept down a nearby slope.
He says a handful of others in the backcountry had narrow escapes during a holiday weekend that combined hair-trigger slopes with sunny skies that enticed recreationists into the mountains.
Chabot says the region in the last three days has received three feet of snow on top of a weak base. An avalanche warning remains in effect.
