A man and two dogs died Friday in an avalanche while traveling on snowshoes to a backcountry home outside Marble in Gunnison County, officials said Saturday.
Two other people were partially buried by the avalanche but dug themselves out of the snow, said the Colorado Avalanche Information Center report, published by Ethan Greene.
The Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office reported Saturday that a 27-year-old man died in the slide. The Sheriff’s Office said it was notified about the missing snowshoer about 4:45 p.m. Friday.
According to Greene’s report, four people and two dogs were walking along an unmaintained road in the lower portion of Yule Creek toward the home when three people and the dogs moved to a road that cut “midslope along the side of a steep gully.”
They triggered the snow slide, which pushed them and both dogs into the gully, where the snow and debris piled on top of them.
Several agencies responded to the scene Friday.
West Elk Mountain Rescue, Mountain Rescue Aspen, Carbondale Fire and Rescue District, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, and the Gunnison County Sheriff's Office helped the two survivors out of the snowfield. Rescuers returned Saturday and retrieved the final group member and the dogs.
CAIC reported that the avalanche was about 50 feet wide and ran 250 feet vertically. The face of the crown was 1 to 2 feet deep. It released on a west-facing slope below tree line at about 8,200 feet elevation.
CAIC also reported an avalanche burial Friday on Wolf Creek Pass in the southern San Juan Mountains. In that incident, a snowmobiler apparently triggered an avalanche near Wolf Creek Pass. CAIC reported that it learned about the slide secondhand, through social media.
According to CAIC, the snowmobile and rider were buried, although the rider’s hand stuck out of the snow.
“The snowmobiler was rescued with no injuries and the snowmobile was recovered,” CAIC said.
Risk of avalanches in Western Colorado remains “considerable” – Level 3 of five levels – above and below tree line, CAIC said.
