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Man killed, 2 others injured in avalanche in Colorado

In a 2018 file image, a helicopter hovers above large cornices preparing to drop avalanche bombs onto the snow for late-season avalanche mitigation near Twin Lakes, Colo. (Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post/TNS)
By Jacob Factor Denver Post

DENVER – An avalanche caught three backcountry tourers, killing one of them, southwest of Marble, Colorado, in Gunnison County on Friday.

The three men were snowboarding when the avalanche happened in upper Rapid Creek, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. One of the men hiked out of the area to get help, and the Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office said the call came in just before 6 p.m.

Search and rescue teams evacuated the second man by helicopter on Friday. Both men were injured.

After the search resumed Saturday, rescue teams found the third man buried about 4 feet deep in avalanche debris, the center said. He was killed in the avalanche.

The center said the avalanche broke 2 to 3 feet deep and 300 to 500 feet wide. It ran 2,400 vertical feet.

The CAIC said Saturday morning there have been eight reports of people caught in or carried in avalanches, all on east- and southeast-facing slopes.