Avalanche-trained dog locates body of snowmobiler killed in Jackson County slide
The Colorado Sun
DENVER — Search and rescue teams on Wednesday used an avalanche-search dog to find the body of a snowmobiler buried in a large slide in the Never Summer Mountains of northern Colorado.
His death brings the total number of people killed in avalanches in Colorado so far this season to 11, equal to the number who died in the 2012-13 season, the deadliest on record.
The man was with five other snowmobilers near Ruby Mountain, southeast of Rand, on Tuesday afternoon when an avalanche broke near treeline on a northeast-facing slope, sweeping away two of the riders in the group. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center reported that one man was partially buried, sitting upright on his snowmobile.
The second man, who was standing on a steep slope away from his snowmobile, was fully buried. The avalanche center said he was not wearing an avalanche transceiver.
According to avalanche center, the slide broke on a weak layer about 3 feet below the surface. It was about three-quarters of a mile wide and ran about 400 vertical feet.
This story is from ColoradoSun.com.
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