Evanston Snowmobiler Killed In Avalanche; Friends Say Man Was 'Too Good For This Earth'

Scott Wright, 37, of Evanston, Wyoming, was killed in an avalanche in Utah on Monday, Utah authorities say. A friend of his said Wright was an avid snowmobiler who loved working on the machines and building them.

An avid Wyoming snowmobiler died Monday after being fully buried in an avalanche near Ogden, Utah, authorities say.

Friends remember Scott Wright, 37, of Evanston, as a kind and resourceful man who could build a sled from the ground up.

Wright and a friend were riding in the Whiskey Hill – Beer Hill area of Curtis Creek, Utah, when Wright was caught, carried and fully buried in a large, hard-slab avalanche, according to the Utah Avalanche Center’s preliminary report on the Monday incident.

The report doesn’t identify Wright by name but a Tuesday statement by the Rich County Sheriff’s Office does.

There was no avalanche transceiver signal, and the other rider couldn’t find Wright, so he called 911.

Rich County Search and Rescue deployed at 3:03 p.m., and soon joined with personnel from Cache County, Weber County, Life Flight, the Utah Department of Public Safety, Powder Mountain K-9 and a Black Hawk helicopter provided by the Diesel Brothers, says the report.

Searchers found Wright at about 6:21.

The Utah Avalanche Center is still investigating the incident and will produce a full report soon, the center told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday.

‘Too Good For This Earth’

Wright was kind, cheerful, helpful and uncomplaining, his friend Sami Ellingford, of Utah, told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday.

Ellingford’s husband Carson grew up with Wright in Evanston, and the friends have shared a passion for vintage snowmobiles, sled-building and hill climbs, Sami Ellingford said.

“He was just such a good person, he was willing to let anybody use his stuff, his sleds,” she said. “He’s just one of those people – when you reflect, when you lose someone – you realize their qualities and how they were just too good for this earth.”  

Ellingford and her husband live near the area where the avalanche happened and saw the authorities’ response to it, and they were dreading the outcome, she said.

“Our thoughts are always with those we hear about in avalanches,” said Ellingford, adding that it was doubly devastating to find it was someone they knew and cared about. “It just hits home when you love the backcountry.” 

Ellingford related a story from a few years ago, when a snowmobile group including Wright brought Wright’s half-brother into the powder.

The half-brother had a rough day: he kept breaking snowmobiles and trying out new ones, she recalled with a quiet laugh.

“And Scott at the end of the day, he made a comment like, ‘I’m out of sleds.’ His brother went through all his sleds,” she said. “And he still had a smile on his face. It didn’t even matter, he was just having fun.”

Wright could build snowmobiles from the ground up, regardless of their type or era, she said, adding that that takes a special kind of resourcefulness.

“We’re going to miss him,” she said.

Wright had just started a new motor service business along with Chris Lowrey, his Facebook page shows.

Lowrey did not immediately comment following a call from Cowboy State Daily, but he posted to the pair’s new business page that his heart was heavy, as his business partner “was called home.”

Lowrey urged people to pray for the family members Wright leaves behind.

Other social media commenters, who did not immediately respond to requests for comment, called Wright “an amazing man with a heart of gold,” and “an amazing human with the biggest heart.”

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.