A local man died Sunday in a massive avalanche in San Miguel County, the sheriff’s office said.
The body of the backcountry skier, who had been reported missing, was found just before 2 p.m. Monday, the sheriff’s office said. Search and rescue dogs were used to locate the skier’s body near the Matterhorn Nordic Ski System southwest of Telluride.
On Sunday, an air and ground search was carried out in attempts to locate the missing skier, and the sheriff’s office closed the area to the public during the search operations and for avalanche mitigation.
“Our thoughts are with the local man’s family,” the sheriff’s office said on Monday.
Search and Rescue recovered the body of the missing backcountry skier at a little before 2pm today. The local man apparently perished in a massive avalanche yesterday.
— San Miguel Sheriff (@SheriffAlert)
The avalanche was near Trout Lake and Lizard Head Pass at an elevation of 10,500 feet, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
The backcountry skier was caught, buried and killed by the avalanche, the center said.
On Monday, San Miguel Search and Rescue and the Telluride Ski Patrol search teams concentrated on a large pile of avalanche debris east of Priest Lake in an area locally know as Base Camp 1, the .
“Search dogs alerted, and rescuers confirmed the body of the missing skier” who was found buried in about three feet of snow, the report said. “The avalanche appeared to be triggered by the skier as indicated by the visible ski track.”
The avalanche, on a south-facing slope, was about 100-feet wide and ran at least 400 vertical feet, the CAIC said.
“Our deepest condolences go out to the families and friends of the people involved,” the CAIC said.
