Bodies of three skiers killed in Colorado avalanche are found
All three men were involved in or worked for county and town governments.
“Our hearts are heavy with the loss of these three men,” the Eagle statement continued. “Their contributions through their work in local government and local businesses, as well as their personal passions and their impact on the friends and family members they leave behind, have helped shape the community in ways that will be forever lasting. Every single one of us in both of our organizations has learned from their examples, and we are grateful to be able to call them colleagues.”
Ground teams worked 12 hours to extract the bodies, but they could not yet be removed from by helicopter because of bad weather, according to a post on the Facebook page of the Office of Emergency Management of San Juan County, where the avalanche occurred. The skiers were buried in 20 feet of snow and debris and were found with the help of avalanche beacons, which they were all wearing.
“This cuts deep throughout the community,” Eagle County Manager Jeff Shroll told the Vail Daily. “These guys were so involved.”
Eagle Mayor Scott Turnipseed called their deaths a “real blow to the community, losing them as community members and losing the vision they had for the town.”
Palmer and Jessen had been elected to the Eagle Town Council, Palmer was director of the county’s Sustainable Communities program and Bossung was the county’s energy efficiency project. Jessen was also a co-founder of Bonfire Brewing, a popular microbrewery in Eagle.
The skiers were part of a group of seven caught Monday in the avalanche in an area known as “The Nose,” which lies between the towns of Silverton and Ophir, just south of Telluride. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center had rated the avalanche hazard that day as “considerable.”
The group was skiing on the northeast-facing slope near the tree line at 11,500 feet. Denver’s NBC affiliate reported that avalanches can easily be triggered on northerly and easterly slopes, even from far away or below.
Four of the seven were fully buried in the avalanche, but the other three were able to rescue one skier, who had minor injuries. At least one left the group to get cellphone reception and call for help, DeAnne Gallegos of the San Juan County Office of Emergency Management told the New York Times.
Search-and-rescue operations were conducted Monday evening and Tuesday, then suspended because of the danger of further avalanches, according to a preliminary report from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
Ten skiers, snowboarders or snowmobilers had been caught in other avalanches in Colorado this season with four fatalities, according to the state information center.
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