Two snowshoers who were killed in an avalanche Saturday, Jan. 8, on Hoosier Pass have been identified as Hannah Nash, 25, and Drake Oversen, 35, of Colorado Springs, according to the Summit County coroner.
The pair died along with their dog, Valerie, after they were caught and buried in an avalanche they triggered while snowshoeing near North Star Mountain. The cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma and asphyxiation, according to the coroner.
The slide broke about 10 feet deep, 400 feet wide and ran about 250 vertical feet.
Ethan Greene said the avalanche danger was rated considerable (3 out of 5) in the Summit County area on the day the snowshoers died, and the location where the avalanche occurred near North Star Mountain was exposed terrain where avalanches are more common. He said the area was a wind-loaded, near-treeline slope that also happened to be facing northeast, making it particularly high risk for an avalanche.
