TELLURIDE, Colo. — Search and Rescue teams recovered the body a missing backcountry skier from Telluride on Monday afternoon.
The man had been skiing with his dog in the greater Base Camp area, which is about 12 miles south of Telluride, when the "massive" avalanche occurred, according to the San Miguel County Sheriff's Office.
Later that afternoon, the skier's dog was found barking and in distress by the man’s vehicle parked at the Matterhorn Nordic parking lodge. Sunday's weather had prohibited air avalanche mitigation work that was needed for it to be safe to search for the missing skier, the Sheriff's Office said.
That work was completed Monday. Once conditions were deemed safe, ground crews and Telluride avalanche dogs were dispatched to search for the missing skier.
His body was found just before 2 p.m. in a slide estimated to be 300 feet wide by 600 feet long on the west side of Yellow Mountain, the San Miguel County Sheriff's Office says.
A Colorado Avalanche Information Center spokesperson described the slide as “destructive and large enough to bury, injure or kill a person."
“We are all deeply saddened to lose another husband, father and beloved member of our community in such a tragic event," San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Master said. "This is the second avalanche death in less than two weeks in the region."
The area is still closed to the public, according to the Sheriff's Office. The skier who died has not yet been identified.
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