CLEAR CREEK COUNTY — Investigators say an avalanche that killed one man and injured another Sunday afternoon was complicated by a large amount of wind-piled snow on one side of Mount Trelease near Dry Gulch in Clear Creek County.
The Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office says Justin Latici and Kyle Shellberg, both from Golden, triggered the avalanche Sunday as the two skied into the gulch from opposite sides around noon. Shellberg died in the avalanche. Latici suffered a leg injury.
Monday, members of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center skied into the back country to determine how the avalanche was triggered. They found the north side of the slope where the skiers were found was wind-loaded. That means winds blowing from west to east piled snow onto trees near one side of the slope, which could have created a weak point in the middle.
