EAGLE COUNTY, Colo. — Search and rescue crews have recovered the bodies of two people who died after an avalanche in the Muddy Pass area which is north of Vail.
The victims have been identified as 28-year-old Dillon Block and 30-year-old Cesar Almanza-Hernandez both of Gypsum, CO.
A third male involved in the avalanche was able to free himself and contacted authorities, the Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.
All three were snowmobiling in the backcountry before the slide.
First responders first got word of the avalanche around 4:45 p.m. on Saturday.
Weather conditions stopped crews from completing the mission on Saturday night, Eagle County Sheriff spokesperson Jessie Porter said.
CAIC warned of “dangerous avalanche conditions” on Sunday as a multi-day storm moved in. They said they received reports “of very large natural avalanches” coming in from the Gore Range to Vail Pass to the Ten Mile Range.
“The best way to manage your risk is to make conservative terrain choices and stay aware of the terrain that lurks above you,” CAIC wrote in a Facebook post. “This advice may seem conservative to some of our users, but the bottom line is, we’re worried.”