A snowboarder killed in an avalanche near Snoqualmie Pass Sunday has been identified by relatives as an expert rider.
      The Seattle Times says 41-year-old Karl Milanoski, of Seattle, was killed when he was swept off a cliff by an avalanche. He was riding in an out-of-bounds area near Alpental, which is part of The Summit at Snoqualmie ski resort.
      John Anderson, of Lake Stevens, says his half-brother was a veteran snowboarder who also enjoyed mountain biking and fishing. He was a jack-of-trades and often did finish work as a carpenter.
      Anderson says Milanoski also was devoted to his 11-year-old daughter.
    
Expert skiers caught in a weekend avalanche were equipped with safety devices and kept track of each other as they strayed beyond the boundaries of a popular Washington ski resort.
      But the precautions still didn't save several from getting trapped in the deadly slide that has highlighted the risks of backcountry skiing during a season of heightened avalanche dangers in the West.
      Authorities say the huge avalanche hit about a dozen skiers Sunday. Three men were killed.
      Powder Magazine senior editor John Stifter, who skied with the group, says once the avalanche swept one of the skiers down the mountain, he and several others turned on beacons and began searching. .
      Authorities say one skier was saved by an airbag she deployed after the avalanche hit.
      Stifter says another skier survived by bear-hugging a tree.

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