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Firefighter, teen die in avalanche

By Myung Oak Kim, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 28, 2008 at 11:14 a.m.
Updated December 28, 2008 at 7:50 p.m.

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Brian Kopp

Brian Kopp

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The 200-foot-wide wall of snow engulfed the three men within seconds.

Chuck Goetz clawed his way out of the snowbank, but his 19-year-old son Mark, and his good friend Brian Kopp, a firefighter, were nowhere in sight.

Snow was falling and the temperature was about 10 degrees as Goetz, 59, of Arvada, called for help from 11,200 feet on Gravel Mountain in Grand County.

The group had been backcountry snowmobiling in a popular recreation area northwest of Granby. They were five to 10 miles away from the trailhead when the avalanche hit.

An hour passed.

When rescuers got to the scene, Goetz and others had dug Kopp out and were performing CPR on him.

Rescuers soon located Mark Goetz with a probe. They dug out three to four feet of snow and found the young man face down. By that time, he had been buried for almost two hours.

Medical technicians performed CPR on the 19-year-old while transporting him on a specially-equipped toboggan to the trail head. Both men were pronounced dead on the mountain.

The two deaths marked the low point of a weekend of avalanches in the high country, caused by a combination of Mother Nature and human error.

A natural avalanche closed US 6 over Loveland Pass Saturday afternoon.

Officials say conditions are ripe now for avalanches because of a weak snow base and a recent onslaught of heavy snow from storm systems that have hammered the western slope and high country.

Ethan Greene, director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, said the death toll could have been higher.

The avalanche that killed Kopp and Goetz was relatively small, he said. Another avalanche Saturday morning in the Vail Pass area was about three times bigger, but somehow caused no injuries.

Both slides were triggered by snowmobilers who were high-marking. High marking is when a snowmobiler drives up a steep slope and makes a sharp turn to come back down. The practice is known to cause avalanches.

Greene said the snowmobiler on Vail Pass was high-marking. Chuck Goetz told police that his son and Kopp had been high-marking, said Grand County Sheriff Rod Johnson.

Kopp and Mark Goetz were the third and fourth Coloradans to die in avalanches this season, according to the avalanche center. The agency said five or six people die in avalanches each year in Colorado.

"The chances are that we will see more people die in the next couple weeks," Greene predicted.

The group caught in the avalanche on Gravel Mountain apparently were not novices to the back country.

Kopp, 38, of Larkspur, was an expert snowmobile operator, said fellow firefighter Mike Porter.

"He was very well versed in snow conditions," Porter said. "It's hard to wrap my mind around this because I know he knew it was dangerous up there."

Chuck Goetz brought his son Mark and son-in-law Harry Than on the Saturday trip, said Johnson.

They drove away from the trailhead at about 10:30 a.m. Just before the avalanche, Than got stuck, and Chuck Goetz told him to stay put until he went ahead and found the other two.

Chuck Goetz found his son and Kopp stuck on the slope, so he drove up above them and was driving down to help them when the avalanche hit, Johnson said.

Another snowmobiler helped Than, 32, of Thornton, out of the snow, and Than did not see the avalanche, Johnson said.

That area and much of the high country had been a mid-level avalanche danger, Greene said. He said most avalanche deaths happen at that danger level.

Greg Foley, field director of Grand County Search and Rescue, said the area where Kopp and Mark Goetz died was known to be dangerous.

"It's a known avalanche slope that slides every year," Foley said.

Foley was one of the first rescuers on the scene. He said the deaths could have been prevented if the snowmobilers were wearing avalanche beacons and if they had not been operating so close together, which increases the chances of snow slides.

"If they would have all had avalanche beacons on, the people that did not get buried could have found them within five minutes," Foley said.

He stressed the need to have proper safety gear and to avoid highly dangerous slopes.

Without beacons and probes, "By the time a search and rescue team gets there ... it's too late."

kimm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2361

Staff writer Jerd Smith contributed to this report.

Comments

  • December 28, 2008

    1:04 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Ron writes:

    This was a good man...his actions were instrumental in rescuing my daughter from her mangled car in January 2007.
    I had the chance to thank him on two occasions. So to his family, thank you for supporting Brian in his work. I know you will miss him and never forget him. I will also never forget him.

    Ron Phelps
    Centennial, CO

  • December 28, 2008

    1:28 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    HaveHarleyWillTravel writes:

    R.I.P. Brian.You will be missed.
    And a special blessing to the family.

  • December 28, 2008

    2:46 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    major47 writes:

    Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die.Will be seeing you later Brian.Major47

  • December 28, 2008

    3:18 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    GeneseeBoy writes:

    Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they have ever made a difference in the world, but firefighters don't have that problem.

    Brian, thank you for always being on duty - RIP

  • December 28, 2008

    4:16 p.m.

    TankerDan writes:

    (This comment was removed by the site staff.)

  • December 28, 2008

    4:27 p.m.

    TankerDan writes:

    (This comment was removed by the site staff.)

  • December 28, 2008

    4:50 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    tinytot writes:

    I am originally from Colorado, and would like to pass on to the family, that Brian, loved and did his life to the fulless, and he gave of himself always to help those in need.
    Thank you Brian, for always caring and looking after others frist.
    I know he will be missed by all who knew him, and I know that he is in Gods Hands, and will always be a shinning Angel watching over you.

  • December 28, 2008

    4:52 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    DragonInTheSky writes:

    TankerDan..You are unspeakably rude and insulting. Obviously you are a coward, and would never have the guts to put your life before someone else's.
    You should be ashamed of yourself.

    My condolences to all friends and family..Brian sounds like a really amazing person that lived a very fulfilling and generous life.

  • December 28, 2008

    5:49 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    mayday writes:

    Rest in peace Mr Kopp, thank you for your years of service to the community.

    Deepest condolences to the Kopp family.

  • December 28, 2008

    6:51 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    The_Punnisher writes:

    This behavior defines a HERO in my book...

    We need more people like him.

    " He turned back " says HERO short and sweet....

  • December 28, 2008

    7:42 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    HEBtommy writes:

    God bless Brian and his family.

  • December 28, 2008

    8:08 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    PeanutGallery writes:

    Prayers for Mark and Brian. Prayers for peace for their families and those who loved them.

  • December 28, 2008

    9:34 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    bearjan writes:

    I am very saddened tonight as I search the media to try and find out more information on the avalanche that took the life of my cousin and a firefighter and somehow spared my uncle. The focus I am finding is on the firefighter. Please remember there are TWO families mourning the loss of a loved one tonight. Both the Goetz family and the Kopp family lost a very special person in their lives yesterday and there are TWO stories to be told.

  • December 28, 2008

    9:37 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    bearjan writes:

    Thank you PeanutGallery for acknowledging both Mark and Brian.

  • December 28, 2008

    10:13 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    conroe writes:

    I have been blessed to have ridden with all of these men, what a wonderful crew. I have seen all of these men help a countless number of people on the mountain. Mark, Brian you will trully be missed. My prayers go out to the family and friends of all.

  • December 29, 2008

    8 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    dazerr writes:

    My prayers go to both families. I have known the Goetz family my whole live and what a wonderful family. As one that has recently lost my father in a tragic accident, who was a best friend to the Goetz family for over 40 years, my heart goes out to them for the grief that they are experiencing. I remember back to when Mark was just a baby our families would ride four-wheelers in the mountains, Mark was loved by many and will truly be missed.

    To Brians family, while I don't know you, I am sorry for the loss of such a wonderful man & father. Remind yourself and your twins that everything happens for a reason, my dad was 60 when his accident happened in November and that is how I am getting through, I have to remind myself that GOD has a plan for our family.

  • December 29, 2008

    9:47 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    dazerr writes:

    My prayers go to both families. I have known the Goetz family my whole live and what a wonderful family. As one that has recently lost my father in a tragic accident, who was a best friend to the Goetz family for over 40 years, my heart goes out to them for the grief that they are experiencing. I remember back to when Mark was just a baby our families would ride four-wheelers in the mountains, Mark was a true outdoors man.

    To Brians family, while I don't know you, I am sorry for the loss of such a wonderful man & father. Remind yourself and your twins that everything happens for a reason, my dad was 60 when his accident happened in November and that is how I am getting through, I have to remind myself that GOD has a plan for our family.