Fatality at Avalanche School

[barkernews]

This is ghetto:

 

ASPEN - An investigation is under way in Pitkin County following the avalanche death of a man outside the boundaries of the Aspen Highlands ski area.

 

The man died Sunday during an avalanche awareness class after he was trapped by a snowslide. Other information about the man hasn't been released.

 

Ann Stephenson of the Pitkin County sheriff's office says the man was in a group of six people who were part of a class sponsored by the backcountry expedition company Aspen Expeditions.

 

It's not clear what triggered the avalanche.

 

Early estimates indicate the avalanche slid 3,000 vertical feet and was about 100 to 200 yards wide. The slide apparently began above the treeline, or above 12,000 feet, in the Five Fingers Bowl.

 

Stephenson says the man was alive when he was pulled from the slide, but died within a half hour. The man was pulled from the snow by people in the party who tried to stabilize him.

 

Avalanche danger for that elevation was rated moderate Sunday.

 

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center says at least 46 people have been caught in snowslides this season.

 

The only other reported avalanche death this season occurred in January, when a backcountry skier from Steamboat Springs was buried under three feet of snow in an avalanche on Buffalo Pass.

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http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20050307/NEWS/103070007

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http://www.aspendailynews.com/