Colorado man killed in avalanche, two others rescued
Mar 19, 2023, 8:19 PM
On Friday, March 17, 2023, this avalanche caught three backcountry tourers in upper Rapid Creek, southwest of the town of Marble. Two group members were injured, and one was completely buried and killed in the avalanche. (Colorado Avalanche Information Center)
(Colorado Avalanche Information Center)
COLORADO (KCNC) — Two men are reportedly hospitalized and one is dead after they were caught in an avalanche Friday near the town of Marble. Search and rescue personnel are resuming operations Saturday.
The incident occurred on Chair Mountain, a 12,721-foot peak on the Pitkin-Gunnison county border about seven miles west of Marble. The body of 36-year-old Joel Shute of Glenwood Springs was recovered around 1 p.m. Saturday, the Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday evening.
Shute is the eighth person to die in an avalanche in Colorado this season.
According to the IERCC, first responders were notified of the avalanche Friday at 5:52 p.m. One of the men was able to work his way out of the slide area. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital.
Meanwhile, the second male was flown out of the area to a hospital. The details do not include whether this second man was pulled from the slide by witnesses or rescuers, or how long and how deep he may have been buried.
On Thursday, a skier triggered the very large avalanche in the area near Marble, according to a Facebook post from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC). It was recorded on video.
No one was caught in Thursday’s slide, but the CAIC warned the slide-prone conditions on north-, east- and south-facing slopes merited extra caution after recent snowfall.
The photo in the Twitter message is taken from the lower part of Thursday’s slide, according to the CAIC’s online report.
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