SILVERTON, Colo. (AP) — 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 in California and two backcountry skiers in Oregon's Cascade Mountains.