CRESTED BUTTE – Two backcountry skiers died after getting caught in an avalanche near Crested Butte Saturday.
A release from the Mt. Crested Butte Police Department said 27-year-old Owen Green and 37-year-old Michael Goerne were reported overdue from an expedition in the East Brush Creek area of Gunnison County Saturday night.
According to reporting partner 9News in Denver, Crested Butte Search and Rescue sent a team to the area Saturday night. They found tracks leading to a fresh avalanche near an area known as Death Pass. The team found faint beacon signals located in the slide area but determined conditions were too dangerous to conduct a recovery mission that night.
Sunday, a search and rescue team was flown to the scene by helicopter, while another team approached on the ground.
Reporting partner 9News said the air transport team quickly found the two men’s bodies as their beacon signals were transmitting.
