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Two men entered backcountry terrain from Breckenridge on NYE. Only one of them made it out.

Looking across the crown face of an avalanche on Peak 10 above Breckenridge. A man and his adult son were caught in the avalanche in backcountry terrain adjacent to Breckenridge Ski Resort on New Year's Eve. The younger man was fully buried and killed.
Summit County Sheriff's Office
Looking across the crown face of an avalanche on Peak 10 above Breckenridge. A man and his adult son were caught in the avalanche in backcountry terrain adjacent to Breckenridge Ski Resort on New Year's Eve. The younger man was fully buried and killed.

A man and his adult son exited Breckenridge Ski Resort through a backcountry access gate at about 1 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. They entered a popular area known as The Numbers to ski south-to-southeast facing terrain that sits at around 11,600'.

Details are scarce as to exactly how it happened, but both men were caught in a slide shortly thereafter. The older of the two men was partially buried.

After digging himself out, he was unable to locate his son. After making his way to a spot where he found cell service, the man called 9-1-1.

Multiple agencies responded, and within about an hour and a half, an avy rescue dog found the younger man’s body, fully buried.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center sent a team to investigate the slide on Sunday. Their full report won’t be available until later this week.

In the meantime, conditions remain dangerous throughout Colorado: an avalanche warning is in effect from the Grand Mesa to the Elk Mountains through Monday evening. The Flat Tops and San Juans are also under warnings. Backcountry travel is not recommended. Avalanche.state.co.us has more information.

Morgan is KDNK's News Director. He comes to KDNK with public radio passion and experience. He was a news host, reporter, and operations/programming director at KAJX-Aspen, and has extensive experience working in municipal government.