Body of snowmobiler found three days after avalanche in southern Colorado
The Colorado Sun
Colorado Avalanche Information Center/Courtesy photo
Searchers on Monday found the body of a snowmobiler three days after he went missing in an avalanche near La Manga Pass in southern Colorado.
The victim, who hasn’t been publicly named, was riding with a group of four people Saturday when he was caught and buried in an avalanche near the Red Lakes trailhead in Conejos County, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center reported. The rider’s body was recovered midday.
The death was the seventh avalanche death of the 2022-23 snow season and the third since Feb. 25. Seven people died in avalanches in the 2021-22 season, CAIC said.
The Conejos County Sheriff’s Office, Conejos County Search and Rescue, and the U.S. Forest Service led the search over the weekend, according to the CAIC preliminary report. On Sunday, avalanche dog teams from the Wolf Creek Ski Area joined, as well as CAIC forecasters and members of the local community.
Heavy snowfall last week spiked high avalanche danger across Colorado’s high country. But after the weather briefly eased this weekend, avalanche danger is slowly decreasing.
Read the full story at ColoradoSun.com.
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