WASATCH COUNTY, Utah — In the wake of a Utah man's avalanche death earlier this week, his family is hoping to use his passing as a way to raise money for those who tried to rescue him.
Brian James O'Keefe, known as Keith to his friends, went missing Sunday after an avalanche was triggered while he was snowbiking in the Snake Creek area near Midway. The search for O'Keefe began immediately and carried over into Monday when his body was eventually located and removed.
The co-owner of a West Jordan steel panelization systems company, O'Keefe "was most at home in the outdoors," his family said, adding that he was a mentor to kids in snowboarding and mini-motorcross.
"[O'Keefe was the] kind of person who could fill a room with energy and put a smile on anyone's face," his family shared in a GoFundMe.
Through the GoFundMe, O'Keefe's family hopes to raise funds to support Wasatch Backcountry Rescue, which is the volunteer team that assisted in the search and rescue efforts on Sunday and Monday. Members of Wasatch Backcountry Rescue often serve on ski patrols at Utah resorts, but volunteer their time for avalanche rescues and other mountain emergencies.
"Every dollar of their work is unpaid, and every response puts them at personal risk," the GoFundMe said of the rescue team.
Skier critically injured, another in serious condition after Big Cottonwood Canyon avalanche:
O'Keefe's death was the most recent in a string of avalanche deaths and injuries in Utah over the past week. In nearly the same location the week before, a father snowmobiling with his son was killed after being buried in an avalanche, and an 11-year-old girl died in an avalanche while backcountry skiing with her family near the Brighton Ski Resort.
