HUNTSVILLE -- When Matt Hooper went snowboarding with four friends Sunday afternoon in out-of-bounds terrain near Snowbasin, the group thought the snowpack was stable.
They rode Hell's Canyon about a third of the way down, then saw the results of an avalanche that had occurred just a half-hour earlier.
"On the bottom, I could see a coat," Hooper said Monday. "I thought it was weird that someone would leave their coat on the mountain. Then my friend yelled out that there was somebody there."
Hooper, 24, said he thought his friend was joking at first.
"But he just kept digging and digging," he said.
The men had found Todd Bell, 42, of South Weber.
Hooper said Bell looked "pretty beat up" after the avalanche and was buried under 6 to 8 inches of snow.
Immediately, the snowboarders called 911 and tried to revive Bell, but were unsuccessful.
Officials believe Bell triggered an avalanche around 1 p.m. Sunday after he became separated from a friend who was skiing No Name Canyon, which is within Snowbasin boundaries.
The friend told police they had planned to ski No Name Canyon, but he had become separated from Bell after starting down the mountain. He waited for Bell for a while, he said, then continued the route as the two men had discussed.
While working to remove Bell from the snow, Hooper said, he and the other snowboarders worried about triggering another avalanche.
"We were all nervous that another slide was going to happen."
This was not the group's first time riding out of bounds, Hooper said, but they didn't bring any locator equipment with them that day.
He said the snowboarders were able to finish their run down the mountain once rescue crews came to try to revive Bell.
Bell is survived by four sons, ranging in age from 7 to 15, and his wife, said family spokesman Kourosh Haroni, of Layton.
A fund for the family has been set up in Bell's name at Wells Fargo Bank, Haroni said.
"This family needs help. Unfortunately, with times the way they are, savings wasn't something he had. Money was tight, and he worked hard and provided for his family," he said.
"Unfortunately, he didn't have much of a life savings or life insurance. I didn't see this coming, and I'm sure he didn't see this coming."
Bell had recently been laid off from Granite Construction, Haroni said. He described Bell as an outdoors guy who loved skiing and exercising.
"Money wasn't his first priority. It was his family," he said.
"He was one of the best dads I've ever seen. He was a good husband and worked hard. You couldn't find a better person than this guy."
Bell was an expert skier, Haroni said, and had been a skier all his life.
"It was a tragic deal," Haroni said of the avalanche.
Weber County sheriff's officials are continuing to warn skiers to stay away from out-of-bounds areas.
Sgt. Brandon Toll said avalanche danger is high and people could easily trigger a slide.
"Just don't travel in the backcountry with the current conditions," he said. "Even with the right equipment, it will not prevent a slide."
Snowbasin spokeswoman Jodi Holmgren wouldn't comment specifically on Sunday's avalanche because it did not occur on Snowbasin property, but she advises skiers and snowboarders to stay on groomed trails.
"Don't do it," she said. "Don't go out of bounds."
A group of five skiers was also rescued later Sunday when they became stuck out of bounds after realizing the snow was unstable.
Toll said that when search and rescue workers are called to avalanche rescues, it's a costly and dangerous situation.
"It puts everyone at risk. It's not a controlled area," he said.
"It was very risky just getting the body out of there," Toll said of the area where Bell was caught in an avalanche.
Most of the people involved in search and rescue are volunteers who offer their expertise, time and equipment at no cost, he said. The volunteers do not charge the skiers or the public for the rescues, but the work is expensive for the police force, Toll said.
If people find themselves out of bounds and they're worried about the snow sliding, they should call police, he said.
"Call us. We can try to get them out the best way."
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