Authorities Recover Body Of Avalanche Victim On St. Mary's Glacier
DENVER (AP/CBS4) - Authorities have recovered the body of a Denver-area man who went missing while hiking near St. Mary's Glacier.
The Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office says rescuers found the body of Todd Musselman covered in snow near avalanche debris at St. Mary's Glacier on Saturday.
Mussleman was reported missing last Saturday after he failed to return home from a hike. He was "caught in an avalanche and swept down to St Mary's Lake during a powerful winter storm," according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
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"The avalanche was composed of a hard slab of snow, medium sized relative to what the path could produce, large enough to kill a person," The CAIC report said. "We estimate that the avalanche was 3 to 4 feet deep at the face of the crown, about 1,200 feet wide, running nearly 650 vertical feet."
The search was delayed because of fears of another avalanche.
It was the first avalanche death in Colorado of the season.
LINK: Colorado Avalanche Information Center
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