A 39-year-old Colorado Springs man has been identified as a snowshoer who was killed by an avalanche Wednesday morning along a ridge in Clear Creek County.
Christopher Thomas was on the east side of Kelso Mountain near Torreys Peak with two other people when he was buried by about four-feet deep by the avalanche.
Thomas connected with a woman on a hiker’s website forum called and they met Wednesday morning. The woman’s identity has not been released.
They met a third shoeshoer, who also has not been identified, at a trailhead and the three began ascending the 14,270-foot peak around 7 a.m.
The trio saw evidence of several previous avalanches along the way, said Tom Dale, a dispatcher for Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Department. They were concerned about getting caught in an avalanche and took precautions, he said.
They decided to cross one particular ridge at about 12,000 feet in elevation one at a time as a precaution, Dale said.
“They didn’t want to expose all three of the group to a possible avalanche at the same time,” Dale said.
The woman crossed the ridge first and watched as Thomas began crossing. The other two snoeshoers witnessed the avalanche as it swept Thomas down the mountain, he said.
The woman activated her beacon. Thomas also had a beacon and she and the other hiker used snowshoes and a shovel to dig in the area where they heard the signal, Dale said.
It took between 15 and 20 minutes to uncover Thomas, who was discovered about 1 ½ meters deep. He was not breathing and didn’t have a pulse.
One of the hikers attempted CPR but was unsuccessful, Dale said. The woman called 911 at 10:46 a.m. on Wednesday morning.
Alpine Rescue, the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office, and Flight for Life were among the agencies on scene. This was the first avalanche fatality in Colorado and the third in the U.S. during the 2014-2015 winter season according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, kmitchell@denverpost.com or ,
