2 skiers die in avalanche
Third man digs self out, survives massive slide
Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News
Published March 14, 2007 at midnight
Two of three backcountry skiers died in a huge avalanche that overwhelmed the trio Tuesday on a mountain peak in the White River National Forest in Pitkin County.
A third skier, Jason Luck, 33, of Arvada, managed to dig himself out of the snow and survived the slide that occurred on Mount Shimer, about five miles southeast of Aspen, Pitkin County sheriff's deputies said.
The two victims were not identified, but deputies said one victim was from New York City and the other was from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The coroner is expected to release the identities of the victims today.
Witnesses told deputies that the avalanche appeared to be about 200 feet wide.
Tuesday's two deaths bring to four the number of people killed by avalanches in the state this year.
A snowshoer was killed March 3 after an avalanche buried him up to his neck. A snowmobiler was killed Feb. 4 in the East San Juan Mountains in Rio Grande County.
Jeff Lumsden, the Pitkin County sheriff's patrol director, said the three men left from the Weller Lake trailhead and made their way up Mount Shimer's Sunshine Peak about an hour away.
The group was at about 11,500 feet below a large cornice when the avalanche happened, Lumsden said.
The snow buried one victim in about 8 feet of snow.
The second victim was trapped in approximately 4 feet of snow and debris.
Luck, the survivor, was partially buried but managed to dig himself free, Lumsden said.
Shortly before 3 p.m., Luck used his cell phone to call the Aspen Pitkin County Communications Center to report the avalanche had buried his companions.
Rescue teams from Mountain Rescue Aspen and West Eagle Search and Rescue used 12 snowmobiles to race up the peak to search for the victims. A Flight for Life helicopter also responded, deputies said.
The two buried skiers were pronounced dead at the scene.
Recovery teams brought Luck and the two victims down the mountain about 7 p.m.
Luck refused medical treatment.
Ethan Greene, director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, said his staff won't know for certain what kind of avalanche was triggered Tuesday until they inspect it today. Preliminary indications appear to show that the deadly slide was a "slab avalanche."
"These are very dangerous avalanches because people have been triggering them from a distance . . . like walking on a ridge line - and a slope adjacent to them avalanches," Greene said.
He cautioned mountain enthusiasts that good weather doesn't mean avalanche danger is over.
"There haven't been a lot of them, but there's been an indication of this ongoing instability in the snowpack," Greene said.
gutierrezh@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5204
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