Colorado Snowboarder Becomes Fourth Avalanche Victim in a Week

U.S.|Colorado Snowboarder Becomes Fourth Person Killed in Avalanche This Week

A backcountry snowboarder was killed in an avalanche on Thursday in a remote part of southwestern Colorado, the fourth person to die in a mountain slide this week in the western United States following several winter storms.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center said that the victim was traversing a terrain feature known as The Nose, near Silverton, Colo., when the person got caught in the avalanche.

A skier who was with the snowboarder escaped the avalanche, the authorities said.

Emergency responders used a helicopter to try to rescue the snowboarder, but the person did not survive, the center said. Rescuers were alerted about the avalanche by the staff from a nearby backcountry hut.

The avalanche added to what has been a deadly week in the West.

On Monday, two skiers were caught in an avalanche in the Cascade Mountains in Oregon, one that occurred at a height of 6,700 feet on a south-facing slope. Their bodies were recovered on Tuesday.

Also on Monday, an avalanche claimed the life of a backcountry skier in California near Lake Tahoe.

The Sierra Avalanche Center said that the skier was traveling alone when he triggered the avalanche, which carried him downslope over rocks and through trees. The victim was buried beneath more than four feet of snow against a tree, the center said.