Man Dies In Colorado Avalanche, 2 Others Freed
One person died and two were trapped Wednesday after an avalanche below a ridge about 3 miles south of Interstate 70 in Colorado.
Alpine Rescue Team members, Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office deputies and air-ambulance crews were able to free two of those trapped. The third could not be revived.
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The victims, whose names have not been released, were snowshoeing along Kelso Ridge, a sheriff’s office spokesman said.
Two of the snowshoers had met at 7 a.m. MT Wednesday for a trip up Grays and Torreys peaks. The couple met another man in the lot where they parked who decided to tag along.
At about 12,000 feet up the trail, the woman was leading the group across an area when she turned around to look at the man behind her. She saw him get caught in the small slide, officials said.
The woman activated her avalanche beacon. She and the second man, who also had a beacon, were able to locate the buried man in about 20 minutes, the sheriff’s office said.
The woman checked the victim’s pulse while the other man tried to revive him with cardio-pulmonary resuscitation but could not find a pulse, officials said.
The area is about 45 miles west of Denver in the Rocky Mountains.
On Saturday, four snowmobilers survived after an avalanche buried them in the Mission Mountains northwest of Seeley Lake in Montana. That area is about 35 miles northeast of Missoula, Mont.
Two of the men were able to dig themselves out, freed a third victim and found the fourth man buried and trapped between two snowmobiles. He was unconscious but was able to be revived after about 10 minutes, said Gerry Connell of Seeley Lake Search and Rescue.
