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Snowboarder Now Presumed Dead

Authorities say a 24-year-old snowboarder was buried in an avalanche Tuesday and is now presumed dead. Alaska State Troopers spokesman, Greg Wilkinson, says conditions were too harsh to launch a search for Brendan J. Smart, who was on a slope with two other men when the avalanche swept his way mid-afternoon Tuesday.

The two other men escaped without injury. Wilkinson says the two survivors were carrying location beacons but were unable to detect a signal coming from Smart`s beacon. It is not known if he was carrying it at the time.

The avalanche fell from the 1,600-foot level of Marmot Mountain, an area located about 50 miles north of Anchorage, which has been the site of several avalanches in the past. Loosely packed snow or generally unstable land masses can lead to massive avalanches beginning without any warning at all.