Authorities have released the names of four Colorado snowboarders and one skier killed over the weekend in the state’s deadliest avalanche in more than 50 years.
Clear Creek County Sheriff Don Krueger said search and rescue crews recovered the men’s bodies from a backcountry area on Loveland Pass several hours after Saturday afternoon’s slide, which was estimated to be about 600 feet wide and 8 feet deep. All of the men carried avalanche beacons.
The sheriff identified them Sunday as Christopher Peters, 32, of Lakewood; Joseph Timlin, 32, of Gypsum; Ryan Novack, 33, of Boulder; Ian Lanphere, 36, of Crested Butte; and Rick Gaukel, 33, of Estes Park. Another snowboarder, identified by friends as Jerome Boulay, was buried and survived, but authorities have not released his condition.
The Denver Post reported Sunday that the men, all experienced in extreme terrain, were participating in the Rocky Mountain High Backcountry Bash to raise money for the Colorado Avalanche Information Center when the slide occurred.
Adam Schmidt, editor in chief of Snowboard Colorado Magazine, said the event organized by Timlin, “ironically,” was aimed at promoting backcountry safety.
