One skier is dead and another was nearly so following an avalanche Saturday in the Lake Agnes area of Jackson County.
Skiers called in a report of a large, quarter-mile-wide avalanche near the top of Cameron Pass Saturday around 1 p.m., parks officials said. Passing skiers had taken pictures of the area before the avalanche and then noticed the slide area right after that, along with tracks going in but not coming out.
Extremely qualified rescue personnel – including state and national park workers, wildlife experts and Forest Service members – were in the area participating in a snowmobile poker run, said Kent Minor of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Service.
Rescuers found one skier wearing a rescue beacon, but determined he was already dead. Jackson County Search & Rescue joined the effort and after an extended search for the second victim, he was located, partially conscious but alive.
The living skier was equipped with an Avalung, a safety device that helps people trapped under snow to breathe, officials said. Rescuers estimated he had been buried for an hour and a half or more.
The victim was transported out of the bowls via rescue sled and airlifted to North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley. His condition is unknown. Crews returned to the area Sunday to retrieve the other skier’s body.
Colorado Avalanche Information Center investigators were also on the scene attempting to determine the cause of the avalanche. So far, it has been determined that the slide was about a quarter-mile wide and moved 400 or 500 yards down the bowl.
CAIC reiterated that avalanche danger is considerable in the back country this time of year and encouraged everyone to check conditions before heading out.
Skiers called in a report of a large, quarter-mile-wide avalanche near the top of Cameron Pass Saturday around 1 p.m., parks officials said. Passing skiers had taken pictures of the area before the avalanche and then noticed the slide area right after that, along with tracks going in but not coming out.
Extremely qualified rescue personnel – including state and national park workers, wildlife experts and Forest Service members – were in the area participating in a snowmobile poker run, said Kent Minor of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Service.
Rescuers found one skier wearing a rescue beacon, but determined he was already dead. Jackson County Search & Rescue joined the effort and after an extended search for the second victim, he was located, partially conscious but alive.
The living skier was equipped with an Avalung, a safety device that helps people trapped under snow to breathe, officials said. Rescuers estimated he had been buried for an hour and a half or more.
The victim was transported out of the bowls via rescue sled and airlifted to North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley. His condition is unknown. Crews returned to the area Sunday to retrieve the other skier’s body.
Colorado Avalanche Information Center investigators were also on the scene attempting to determine the cause of the avalanche. So far, it has been determined that the slide was about a quarter-mile wide and moved 400 or 500 yards down the bowl.
CAIC reiterated that avalanche danger is considerable in the back country this time of year and encouraged everyone to check conditions before heading out.
