Avalanches kill two skiers in Colorado

It has been a tragic weekend in the mountains of Colorado in the US where avalanches have claimed the lives of two skiers.

Three people were caught in Sunday's large avalanche in the Maroon bowl area outside of the Aspen Highlands resort near Aspen, the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office said. Two of them managed to escape the path of the snow but one skier could not get out of the way in time.

Earlier, authorities had found the body of 36-year-old Joel Shute, a Glenwood Springs man who had been back-country skiing with friends in western Colorado when he was swept away by an avalanche.

Mr Shute's family, friends and partner have paid tribute to him and said he died doing what he loved. His mother Lisa Gerstner asked for donations raised to be sent to mountain rescue organisations, in line with her son's values.

“Skiing was Joel’s life,” brother Aaron Shute told local television station KDVR.

“It was his passion and what he wanted to do with his life."

Friend Jonathan Stokely wrote that Mr Shute was one of the "most magical men" he knew.

"Joel lived the mountains, from Alaska to Glenwood Springs... Joel loved adventure and the greater truth in life. He was taken from us doing what he loved," he wrote on a fundraising page.

Mr Shute had been missing since Friday night, when the avalanche swept 2,400 feet (730 metres) down a mountainside.

The avalanche was two to three feet (up to nearly 1 metre) deep where it began and up to 500 feet (150 metres) wide, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center said. Rescue teams found Mr Shute's body buried in avalanche debris, the centre said.

A skier and snowboarder who were with Mr Shute survived. The snowboarder hiked out to get help and rescue teams evacuated the injured skier by helicopter. Both were taken to the hospital, the Gunnison County Sheriff’s office said.

Nineteen people have been killed across the US by avalanches so far this winter. Nine of the fatalities were in Colorado. Avalanches in the winter of 2020-2021 killed 37 people nationwide, which was the most recorded by the avalanche centre in records going back to 1950.