Five soldiers hospitalized after avalanche at Army Mountain Warfare School


Several US Soldiers attending the Army Mountain Warfare School in Vermont have been injured following an avalanche that swept them 300 meters away upon impact.

The incident took place on Wednesday afternoon a few miles from Smuggler’s Notch on Mount Mansfield, where dozens of troops were training.

“The Mountain Warfare School in Jericho, Vt. at Camp Ethan Allen Training Center provides a lot of mountaineering coursework, and the advanced warfare school was up here today (Wednesday),” said Vermont Army National Guard spokesman Nathan Rivard. “They do mountain survival, they do a lot of things with rope skills as well as mountain climbing and rappelling, that’s why they train up here in Smugglers’ Notch. They do it in the winter, so they can get the winter phase where they get a really in-depth curriculum.”

Vermont Army National Guard troops were swept up in the avalanche, which took place in tight quarters with wind-loaded snow.

The soldiers were conscious and found within ten minutes of the avalanche, though five out of six who were injured were taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

According to My Champlain Valley, local rescuers were dispatched to assist in the subsequent evacuation.

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