By Matt Hansen powder.com

The skiing community was hit by more devastating news recently. On March 31st, an avalanche swept a Pemberton, B.C., man to his death. Jack Hannan, a friend, husband and skier who won the 2003 Crested Butte US Freeskiing Championships, was skiing with three others when he was hit by a massive avalanche. The group had been dropped off by a helicopter on 8,500-foot Mount Currie, a prominent peak in the Pemberton valley. As they were skiing down, conservatively and one by one, a Class 3 (on a scale of 1-5) avalanche overcame Hannan and carried him over 1,500 feet and several cliff bands.
The avalanche released naturally from an adjacent couloir that fed into the line the group was skiing. Hannan was positioned slightly farther down the hill than the rest of the group and was more exposed to the slide. The entire group was engulfed in the snow cloud. Only Hannan was caught. His partners were able to find and uncover him quickly, but he had succumbed to trauma.


The news is yet another blow to the tight-nit ski community, which has endured a series of high-profile tragedies over the last several years. Hannan was married to Laura Ogden, the 2006 Freeskiing World Tour Champion and frequent athlete on Powder magazine feature stories. Hannan had also written for Powder and had appeared in several films while competing on the freeski circuit—where he and Ogden met—in the early 2000s. The two had recently bought a place in Pemberton, and were looking forward to a life together in the mountains. They did not have any children.


A memorial has been planned for Saturday, April 10, at 4:00 pm at the Black Squirrel Restaurant at The Meadows at Pemberton Golf Course in Pemberton, B.C.

Powder wishes to extend its deepest sympathies to Jack’s family and friends.