Jacob Fluty, a lifelong Saratoga resident who loved the outdoors and who friends describe as a “live-life-to-the-fullest kind of guy” was killed in an avalanche while snowmobiling in the southern Wyoming backcountry Friday, the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office reported Sunday.
Fluty, 34, also served on the Saratoga Town Council, along with his father, Jerry Fluty. He leaves behind a host of friends and family in Saratoga, including his wife Ashley and three young children.
One of those who was shocked by the news of the avalanche was Amber Waldron, who went to school with Fluty growing up in Saratoga. She started a MealTrain for the family, along with a GoFundMe campaign that as of Sunday afternoon had raised nearly $3,000.
“I went to school with Jacob,” Waldron told Cowboy State Daily, adding that Saratoga is a small, tight knit community where everyone knows everyone else to some extent.
“He was very wild with a good heart. I think everybody that knew him would agree with that,” she said. “He was a live-life-to-the-fullest kind of guy. And he was an avid snowmobiler. He loved to snowmobile.”
Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken said in Sunday’s release that Fluty died when his snowmobile was caught in an avalanche while riding in the Sierra Madre Range. He was riding with another person in an area called “Avalanche Alley” in the Medicine Bow National Forest when they were both caught.
Fluty was buried in the avalanche and was already dead by the time his companion located him. At this time, the companion activated an SOS emergency device with a SPOT device.
Carbon County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the SOS activation, along with Carbon County Search and Rescue volunteers and County Coroner Brittany Nyman, the sheriff’s office reports. Fluty was recovered and his companion safely evacuated.
Fluty had served on the Saratoga Town Council since Jan. 3, 2023.
“Jacob was a father, a husband, a town councilman, and a friend to many of us here in Carbon County,” said Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken in the release. “He will be sorely missed, and our hearts go out to his friends and family.”
Along with the GoFundMe, an account also has been set up in Ashley Fluty’s name at Rawlins National Bank.
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com and Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
