Avalanche buries backcountry skier on Christmas Eve, Colorado officials say

A backcountry skier died in an avalanche on Christmas Eve west of Fort Collins, Colorado officials reported.

The avalanche at 2 p.m. Friday, Dec. 24, buried the skier, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

His partner used a transceiver and probe pole to dig the man out, but he had died, officials said.

The 150-foot wide avalanche took place on South Diamond Peak near Cameron Pass in the Front Range mountains, the center reported.

A snowstorm hit Colorado on Thursday, piling up to 18 inches of fresh snow on a weak snowpack, fueling avalanche dangers, KUSA reported.

“When you put a lot of weight on the snowpack in a short amount of time, it has a hard time adjusting for that and breaks and produces avalanches,” center director Ethan Greene told KCNC.

It was the first Colorado death in the 2021-2022 avalanche season. Twelve people died in avalanches in Colorado in the 2020-2021 season, the center reported.

Nationally, six people have died in avalanches this season, with 37 dying in the 2020-2021 season, the center said.

This story was originally published December 26, 2021 at 9:12 AM with the headline "Avalanche buries backcountry skier on Christmas Eve, Colorado officials say."