SILVERTON, Colo. — A snowboarder was killed in an avalanche in the mountains of southwestern Colorado on Thursday, the fourth person to die in an avalanche in the U.S. West this week after a string of winter storms.
The snowboarder was caught in the debris of the avalanche in the backcountry near Silverton but a man who was skiing with the snowboarder escaped the snow slide, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center said. Staff from a nearby backcountry hut noticed the avalanche, alerted rescuers and helped the skier dig the victim out of the debris, it said.
Three people died in avalanches Monday — one person near Lake Tahoe and two backcountry skiers in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains.
The avalanche danger was elevated for most of Colorado’s mountains earlier this week but conditions have improved somewhat in some areas.