Houston man dies in wreck

BIG LAKE — A helmetless snowmachine driver’s collision with a utility pole Sunday cost him his life, according to Alaska State Troopers.

According to a trooper press release, a 911 call came in at 4:08 a.m. reporting that a snowmachine had crashed near Mile 51.5 Parks Highway.

“Troopers and medics arrived to find an unconscious male with a weak pulse who appeared to have struck a utility pole,” according to the press release.

The driver, Robert G. Schachle, 46, of Houston, was loaded into an ambulance and medics began CPR, but Schachle died before the ambulance made it to the hospital. Troopers say they are still investigating whether alcohol may have played a role in the accident.

West Lakes Battalion Chief James Keel said that Schachle had been driving along the trail that parallels the Parks Highway.

“You could see where he veered off the trail, and it looked like he tried to veer back on but didn’t make it,” Keel said.

The 911 call for help, Keel said, actually came from a group of linemen who were heading out to do some work on the lines and saw Schachle next to the utility pole. It’s unclear how long he was out there before the linemen spotted him.

Schachle was relatively well-known in Big Lake and has a large family in the area. Organizers for the Alaska Motor Mushers say he was known to show up at events to cheer on his son and other relatives in vintage snowmachine and cross country races.

Cathy Tilton, secretary for AMMR, described Schachle’s death as tragic and said the Schachles are a well-known family in Big Lake.

“They’ve always been a very sports-oriented family,” Tilton said.

As for snowmachine accidents, it’s been a tough year for Big Lake. Keel said that Schachle’s crash was the third he’d seen with major injuries. Schachle is the second person to die on a snowmachine there this winter. The other person to lose his life — Mark Forbes, 53, of Anchorage — also hit a pole that was close to the trail, in his case a pole filled with concrete of the type businesses use to protect their property from wayward vehicles. Forbes died in December.

Noting what troopers said about alcohol being a possible factor in Schachel’s crash and based on what he saw at the scene, Keel said that snowmachiners should learn a couple of lessons here.

“Wear your helmet and don’t drink and drive,” Keel said. “Head injuries kill a lot of people a year.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.