Skier Found Dead After Avalanche in Colorado

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A tragic incident occurred in Ouray County, Colorado, on January 7, when 57-year-old Donald Moden Jr. was buried by an avalanche while skiing. Moden, a veteran skier and a former member of the Ouray Mountain Rescue Team, was last reported missing after failing to check in with his wife. Concerned for his safety, she initiated a search that led to the use of her husband's avalanche transceiver, which helped locate him under the snow after he was buried for approximately four hours.

The avalanche, described by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) as 800 feet wide and traveling 400 feet vertically, engulfed Moden while he was on his seventh run of the day. Despite wearing both an avalanche transceiver and an airbag backpack, the equipment did not function in time to facilitate his rescue.

Moden had extensive experience skiing the area, having skied Red Mountain Pass for 16 years. This incident marks the first reported avalanche fatality in Colorado during the current ski season, amid an ongoing threat posed by dangerous snowpack conditions that have affected local backcountry skiers this season.

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