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Date: 2000-11-27
Submitted By: WWAN
Place: Sunlight Basin, near Cody
State: WY
Country: USA
Fatalities: 1
Summary: 1 hunter caught buried and killed
From the Cody Enterprise 12/1/00
Oregon hunter dies in Sunlight avalanche
By JOSH KING
The body of an Oregon hunter killed in an avalanche was found Monday in the Crandall Creek
area of Sunlight Basin.
Mark Nielsen, 41, of West Linn, Ore., died from a cervical fracture and head and chest injuries
he apparently suffered when he was caught in an avalanche, according to the Park County
Sheriff's Office.
Nielsen was hunting with outfitter Buck Porter.
He reported finding Nielsen's tracks leading into a recent avalanche area on Hoodoo Creek. No
tracks could be found exiting the slide.
That information was reported via cellular phone to deputies at 2:50 p.m. Monday.
Forest Service, ambulance and Search and Rescue personnel along with sheriff's deputies were
sent to the area.
Nielsen's lifeless body was discovered in the avalanche slide shortly after 5 p.m. Monday.
Unfavorable weather conditions and darkness postponed an attempt to recover the body.
Early Tuesday morning Forest Service officials, Porter and a hunting guide rode on horseback
to the slide area.
Difficulties obtaining use of a helicopter prompted authorities to transport Nielsen's body to the
South Crandall Trailhead on horseback where S&R personnel were waiting.
Ballard Funeral Home transported the body to Cody after the group arrived at the trailhead
about 5 p.m.
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