Two people snowshoeing with their dog were killed Saturday in a large avalanche near Breckenridge. The dog also died in the slide.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center said the avalanche happened on Hoosier Pass, which is just south of Breckenridge off Colorado 9.
“The avalanche broke about 400 feet wide ran about 250 vertical feet and broke into old snow layers,” the CAIC said in a preliminary report.
Avalanche investigators said the two people and their dog “were completely buried by avalanche debris.”
Avalanche danger in Summit County and around Vail is elevated after recent heavy snowfall.
The two people killed in the avalanche Saturday are the second and third to die in an avalanche in Colorado this year. Ralph Eberspacher, a 54-year-old from Fort Collins, died earlier this month in an avalanche near Cameron Pass in Jackson County.
The Coloradoan reports Eberspacher was an avid backcountry skier.