Matthew Gustafson, 33, of Vail, died Saturday when he and a fellow skier triggered a large slide in King Tut and Old Man’s chutes. The avalanche ran about 900 vertical feet and was “4 to 5 feet” deep.Both men where wearing beacons, but both were buried, so there was no one to search for them. Gustafson was buried for four hours before he was found. His partner was buried with his hand sticking up, and was able to free himself after an hour and call 911.
Another Vail resident, Jesse Brigham, 27, died eight days earlier in an avalanche in the same area.
2 comments:
In Batman the Joker said "Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale moonlight?" People are free to ski these chutes but c'mon use some sense.
Saw on the news last night and AP is saying today that high avalanche danger has forced searchers to stop looking for a Colorado State University employee missing after an avalanche near Blanca Peak.
And also to stop looking for two snowboarders missing near Wolf Creek.
Wolf Creek patrolers and volunteers said they'd keep looking for the boarders.
Lygon Stevens, 20, was hiking with her brother, Nick, on Little Bear Peak when an avalanche hit them Thursday morning. Both are described as experienced climbers.
Nick is said to have been near the edge of the slide, and spent a day hiking to a place he could get cell reception.
Search and rescue members said the slide was at least the size of a football field and maybe 15 feet deep.
Its unsure whether snowboarders Michael George and Kyle Kerschen, both 27 and from Albuquerque, were caught in bad weather and are missing in the forest or if something else happened to them.
They were reported missing Jan. 5. Their car was found in Wolf Creek's parking lot.
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