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Victims in pair of weekend avalanches are second, third Utahns killed in slides this year

Posted at 10:21 PM, Jan 27, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-28 00:22:10-05

UTAH – Hundreds of miles separated two Utah men who met the same fate over the weekend, buried in avalanches while snowmobiling in Utah and Idaho.

The first victim was identified as 39-year-old Scott Pehrson Jr. from Monticello, Utah. He was snowmobiling in Dark Canyon Basin in the La Sal mountains Friday, when he was buried – his body was recovered Saturday afternoon.

Those who knew him said, “He was a great man.”

San Juan County expressed their condolences saying, “It is in times of heartbreak and tragedy that we pull together and support the members in our community. The Pehrson family has been a consistent example of lifting others, and now we have the opportunity to love and support them.”

Pehrson leaves behind a wife and four children, a GoFundMe page has been set up for the family and can be found HERE.

Pehrson wasn’t the only one. Tommy Hawkins, 35 from Layton, Utah, lost his life in an avalanche in Idaho.

He was snowmobiling in Bonneville County.

People have posted in his memory, “I always looked up to Tommy as he was talented in so many ways,” Brayden Lane Buxton said in a Facebook post.

“He built up others as he worked with them with his warm smile and infectious laugh. I will truly miss this man and friend that I love,” said Paul Rossiter.

Hawkins leaves behind a wife and three kids. A GoFundMe page for the family can be found HERE.

Both men were wearing some form of avalanche equipment when the slides took place.

Current avalanche conditions can be found on the Utah Avalanche Center’s website.