Colorado avalanche kills 1, injures 2

MARBLE, Colo. – A Colorado skier has been killed and two others injured after being caught in a massive avalanche in the western Colorado backcountry.

The body of Joel Shute, 36, of Glenwood Springs was found on Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

Shute had been missing since Friday evening, when he was buried in an avalanche that swept 2,400 feet down the mountainside where the victims were traveling in the backcountry southwest of the town of Marble, the report said. authorities.

The avalanche was two to three feet deep where it started and up to 500 feet wide, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center said. Rescue teams found the victim’s body buried about four feet deep in the avalanche debris, the center said.

A skier and a snowboarder who were with Shute survived. The snowboarder went out for help and rescue teams evacuated the injured skier by helicopter. Both were taken to hospital, the Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office said.

Recent storms have increased the avalanche risk.

Eighteen people have been killed across the United States by avalanches so far this winter. Last winter’s avalanches killed 37 people, which was the highest number recorded by the avalanche center since 1950.