Weekend avalanches kill 3 in Colorado

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A heavy storm across Colorado last weekend loaded fresh snow on top of a weak, shallow snowpack, producing deadly avalanches that killed three people.

On Sunday afternoon on an open, inbounds trail at Winter Park Resort's Mary Jane Mountain, an avalanche killed 28-year-old skier Christopher Norris, according to NBC Chicago. Norris leaves behind a wife, their young daughter and infant son.

Also on Sunday, on Vail Mountain, 13-year-old Taft Conlin was killed by a slide. The Denver Post reported that Conlin and a handful of local teens were skiing a closed section of the double-diamond Prima Cornice when the avalanche occurred. According to The Vail Daily, the slide also caught two others, who escaped and went for help.

"We are absolutely devastated by our loss and so incredibly touched and deeply grateful for the outpouring of love and support coming from the community in the Valley," the Conlin family said in a statement.

In Jackson County, a missing snowmobiler, who has not been named publicly, was confirmed dead Monday night. The Denver Post reported that he was one of two brothers from Fort Collins who were overtaken by an avalanche Sunday afternoon on the east side of Buffalo Pass. The surviving brother was reportedly found in a snow cave by their father.

The avalanche death toll in Colorado is now at four this ski season, including that of 43-year-old Keith Ames of Aspen, who was killed Jan. 18 on Burnt Mountain.

Representatives of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center stressed that the underlying conditions that produced these deadly slides -- a fragile, drought-stricken base unable to fully support heavy dumps of snow -- will likely persist throughout the rest of the season.

In other news from Colorado, 32-year-old snowboarder Aaron Easter was found unresponsive late Tuesday morning inbounds at Steamboat Ski & Resort. The Colorado resident, who was riding alone, was found unconscious in a depression where groundwater had undermined the snow, according Fresh Tracks online ski magazine. The hazard was marked. Easter was taken to Yampa Valley Medical Center in Steamboat Springs, then flown to a Denver hospital, where he died later that day.

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Keith Hamm

Action Sports

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