Snowmobiling

Click here to watch the crash

DENVER — Snowmobiler Caleb Moore was in critical condition Tuesday in a Colorado hospital after a dramatic crash at the Winter X Games in Aspen, and a relative said the family wasn’t hopeful about the 25-year-old’s chances for survival.

Moore was performing a flip Thursday when he clipped the top of a jump and went over the handlebars and landed face first into the snow. The snowmobile rolled over him, but he walked off with help and went to a hospital with a concussion.

Moore later developed bleeding around his heart and was flown to a hospital in Grand Junction for surgery. The family later said that Moore, of Krum, Texas, also had a complication involving his brain.

Watch footage of Randy riding here.

RIVERDALE — Randy Sugihara is no stranger to snowmobiling injuries.

The professional backcountry snowmobiler has suffered a blown-out knee and shoulder, a broken foot, tears to just about every muscle in his back, and has always been able to return to his sport as strong as ever. But an accident Feb. 26 could have ended his career, or even his life.

In late February, Sugihara went to Pinedale, Wyo., for a movie premiere for his production company, an event held to promote breast cancer awareness. Afterward, he and fellow sledders decided to ride in the area for a few days.

MONTE CRISTO — A snowmobiler caught in an avalanche Friday, at the start of what forecasters expect to be a dangerous weekend, escaped with just an injured leg.

Though avalanches caused by skiers, snowboarders or snowmobilers have been sparse in Northern Utah, high winds and heavy snow settling on top of weak snow this week led to a slide.

The unidentified man was with three other snowmobilers on Whiskey Hill, just outside of the Monte Cristo trailhead on Highway 39, when he triggered an avalanche halfway up a steep slope around 11 a.m., said Craig Gordon of the Utah Avalanche Center.

A pair of missing outdoor enthusiasts were found safe following two unrelated searches over the weekend.

OGDEN — Two snowmobilers were stranded for more than five hours before being found early Monday morning by members of Weber County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue near Wasatch Ridge.

The two men, ages 23 and 45, were reported missing around 10:30 p.m. Sunday in the Monte Cristo area, said Weber County Sheriff’s Lt. Mark Lowther.

They became stranded in the snow, built a fire to stay warm and were found without injury around 4 a.m. Monday, he said. Their names were not released.

LOGAN — Logan District Ranger Jennefer Parker reminds forest users that Providence Canyon road (Forest Service Road No. 20090) is still closed to wheeled vehicles even though the barriers are down.