Big avalanche kills three

Press, 21 February 1987, Page 1

Big avalanche kills three

By

TOM BRIDGMAN

NZPA Washington Two New Zealanders have been killed in a huge avalanche which swept through the ski area of Breckenridge, about 120 km west of Denver, Colorado on Thursday. The bodies of the New Zealanders were pulled out of the snow yesterday, said Mr Gary Lindstrom, under-sheriff in the Summit County sheriffs department. The two New Zealanders were Paul Way, aged 23, of

Auckland, and Nick Casey, aged 22, of Cambridge. Three were killed by the avalanche. One person was still missing and another skier, Tim Kirkland, an Australian, escaped, said Mr Lindstrom. He said the group were all employed at a local hotel, lived together in the town, and had gone skiing in a group. The families of the dead New Zealanders had been informed, he said. “To the best of bur knowledge they were the only people from New

Zealand caught in-the - avalanche,” said Mr Lindstrom. The New Zealanders had been in Colorado for about three months. The avalanche crashed into a gully between two peaks about 3 p.m. local time on Thursday, burying the skiers in snow up to 9m deep as they tried to flee, witnesses from the area said. Hundreds of searchers used long poles as well as dogs trained to search for people buried in snow. The body of Mr Way was found at 11.15 a.m.

local time yesterday and that of Mr Casey at 12.36 > p.m. Mr Lindstrom said that the skiers had ignored signs warning- 1 of the avalanche area, Skiers who went into It did so at their own risk. Since January 1 three other skiers had . been buried in the area but had got out safely, he said. "No-one was encouraged to ‘ski in that area but it was a popular place for those who wanted fresh, untouched powdered snow.” Mr Lindstrom said ‘hat

the avalanche was believed to have been caused by two other skiers who were further up the valley from the party. The torrent of snow came down what is called an avalanche shute. The two skiers managed to get out of the way but the group below was not as lucky. The area where the New Zealanders’ bodies were found had drifts of 6m to 9m of snow, although the bodies were found in snow Im to 1.3 m deep, he said. Picture, page 10.