2 snowmobile riders killed in Colorado avalanche.Photo: Colorado Avalanche Information Center
Two men snowmobiling on the east face of Mount Epworth — about 6 miles east of Winter Park, Colorado — werekilled in an avalancheon Saturday.
CPR was administered but unsuccessful and the man, 58, wasdeclared dead at the scene, according to the Grand County Sheriff’s office.
The second victim wasn’t wearing a transceiver and wasn’t located until the following day after search and rescue had to suspend efforts Saturday due to “weather and safety concerns,” according to the sheriff’s office. The second man, 52,was found just before 11 a.m. on Sunday, authorities said.
The identities of the men and their specific causes of death will be released at a later time.
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Fatal avalanche in Breckenridge, Colorado.Summit County Rescue Group Facebook
“Unfortunately, this is the second fatal avalanche that we have experienced this season in Grand County,” Sheriff Brett Schroetlinshared in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the victims.”
“We encourage those recreating in our backcountry to regularly monitor the conditions andfollow the advice of our avalanche professionalsat Colorado Avalanche Information Center,” Schroetlin said in a follow-up statement.
There have beenfive total fatalities due to avalanchesduring the 2022-2023 season in the U.S., including Saturday’s accident, according to the CAIC.
Last month, an unidentified man who was backcountry skiing in Breckenridge, Colorado, waskilled in an avalanche— but his father managed to survive the ordeal, according to a local volunteer rescue group that responded to the scene.
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The nonprofit Summit County Rescue Group described the latter event in a statement, writing that their rescue team was called out to help following abackcountry avalanche with “confirmed burials"around 2:05 p.m. on Dec. 31.
The father-and-adult-son skiers had been caught in an avalanche about an hour before, “with the father partially buried and the son fully buried,” the statement said.
Though the elder man wasable to dig himself out of the snow, he had to ski out of the vicinity to get cell reception and called for help around 1:40 p.m.
source: people.com
