GRAND COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — An avalanche claimed the life of a backcountry skier Saturday in the First Creek Drainage area of Berthoud Pass. It’s the fourth backcountry avalanche death in eight days.

The avalanche occurred in an area locally known as Chimney Chute, which is a steep, narrow, northeast-facing below the tree line chute. Grand County Search and Rescue team members located the backcountry tourer with an avalanche probe.

The Grand County Sheriff and Grand County SAR worked into the night to recover the body. Colorado Avalanche Information Center forecasters are visiting the accident on Sunday.

Two backcountry skiers were killed in an avalanche near Silverton on Dec. 19. Another skier died in an avalanche outside Crested Butte on Dec. 18.

Colorado recorded six avalanche deaths in the 2019-20 season — two more than the current count early into this season. The active start is concerning for rescue teams that are wrapping up a record-breaking year. As of Sunday night, the Alpine Rescue Team had completed 136 missions for the year — just six missions shy of their record. 

“What’s really remarkable with that number is for about three months out of the year, our usual response areas in the front range were closed down. People weren’t going into the back country,” said Dale Atkins, Alpine Rescue Team member.

Atkins says avalanche season poses a different set of challenges.

“We’ve got to be very careful and deliberate in how we travel in the back country. We can do it, but the response often has to slow down a bit because we can’t just go charging into the mountains like we can during the summer time,” said Atkins.

Atkins says back country skiers and hikers need to be prepared to wait a considerable amount of time for rescue crews to arrive in the event of an emergency. 

“The golden rule of search and rescue is don’t make the situation worse and we try really hard not to fall into that,” said Atkins.