A Denver snowboarder killed in an early-season snowslide left his avalanche beacon in the car – a critical error that may have cost him his life, authorities said Monday.
Sam Teetzen, 32, had climbed to the top of Mines Peak near Berthoud Pass on Sunday with two friends, Jacob Manchester and Aaron Tripolino, intending to ride his snowboard down the notorious Mines 1 avalanche chute, loaded a day earlier with more than a foot of fresh powder.
Following Tripolino down the run, Teetzen and his golden retriever, Jeb, got caught in the massive avalanche that broke near the summit and swept him about 1,500 vertical feet, leaving him buried beneath at least 3 feet of rock-hard settled snow, according to Ethan Greene, director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
Friends and other skiers in the area immediately began searching for Teetzen with avalanche probes but didn’t find him until more than two hours later.
Commonly worn by backcountry skiers, avalanche beacons emit radio signals that can aid in the speedy recovery of snowslide victims.
“I just don’t understand why he didn’t take it,” said Grand County Sheriff Rodney Johnson. “Had he had that beacon on, I think it might have been a different ballgame.”
The statistical likelihood that buried victims will survive drops by 50 percent after the first 30 minutes, so speedy recovery is critical, officials said.
Johnson indicated that the three men were experienced in winter backcountry travel and that Teetzen’s friends did the right thing by trying to search for him.
By the time trained rescuers were assembled, Teetzen and the dog could not be saved.
“I hate to say this, but we probably will never save you,” Johnson said, suggesting that backcountry users must be self- sufficient and make good decisions about conditions.
Teetzen’s sister, Laura Anderson, said her brother “loved snowboarding above all else” and he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else after moving to Denver in 1999 from Green Bay, Wis.
“Sam’s death is indescribable,” she said in an e-mail. “We can’t even imagine life without him.”
A Green Bay Packers fanatic, Teetzen would call his father several times a week to talk, even during the games, she said.
His parents and another sister flew to Colorado immediately after hearing the news of his death, Anderson said. “My father is flying home with him.”
Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or slipsher@denverpost.com.
