An afternoon avalanche has rescue crews from Pitkin County searching for a missing backcountry adventurer beneath the snow in the White River National Forest tonight.
A “experienced” group was in the wilderness area near the Lindley Hut at 10,480 feet in elevation when the slide occurred at about 4 p.m., said a spokeswoman for Mountain Rescue-Aspen.
One member of the group is missing, but the person’s name was not released. The cause of the avalanche had not been determined.
Crews raced to the area. The rescue was still taking place at 10 p.m.
The 57-year-old Lindley Hut, part of the part of the 10th Mountain Hut system, is at the foot of Star Peak near the head of the Ashcroft Valley in Pitkin County, according to Mountain Rescue.
The hut’s website warns that “avalanche-safe skiing around the hut is of limited supply.”
Colorado has had a number of slides the past two weeks, closing roads and killing one skier, Kellen Robert Sams, 27, of Manitou Springs, and injuring another near the Ridgway Hut in Ouray County on Feb. 11.
Avalanche danger remains high in many areas of the south and central mountains, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
The Aspen area experienced a “large cycle of natural avalanches,” according to the CAIC.
Colorado had 57 avalanche fatalities between 1998 and 2009, the group reports.
