© Robert F. BukatyMount Washington in New Hampshire.
The body of a skier who had been missing for days was found underneath more than a dozen feet of snow Wednesday evening on a trail near Mount Washington in New Hampshire, the state's Fish and Game Department said in a statement.
In Colorado, three skiers died in an avalanche earlier in the week in an area called Mineral Creek near Silverton. They were publicly identified by the county and town of Eagle as Seth Bossung, Andy Jessen and Adam Palmer.
Their bodies were found buried under 20-plus feet of avalanche debris, according to the Office of Emergency Management in San Juan County.
"Our hearts are heavy with the loss of these three men. Their contributions through their work in local government and local businesses, as well as their personal passions and their impact on the friends and family members they leave behind, have helped shape the community in ways that will be forever lasting," the county and town of Eagle said in their statement. "Every single one of us in both of our organizations has learned by their examples, and we are grateful to be able to call them colleagues."
Rescue crews in New Hampshire located the body of the missing backcountry skier around 6 p.m. on the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trailhead in White Mountain National Forest in Sargeant's Purchase, according to the fish and game department's statement.
The skier, whose name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, was reported missing by his friends Tuesday night after failing to return home and answer repeated calls. Initial reports indicated he had planned to ski on either the Ammonoosuc Ravine or Monroe Brook drainages Monday, the department's statement said.
After the missing person's report was made, crews began searching multiple trailhead parking lots Tuesday night to find the skier's vehicle to confirm he was still in the backcountry, according to the statement.
However, the search that night failed, and the vehicle was later discovered Wednesday morning in the snow-filled Ammonoosuc Ravine parking lot, the department said.
Despite the danger of a potential avalanche, U.S. Forest Service personnel, members of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department's Search and Rescue team and volunteers from Mountain Rescue Service started to hike up both the Ammonoosuc Ravine and Monroe Brook drainages to continue looking for the skier, according to officials.
Crews spent several hours scouring both drainages until an avalanche beacon signal was detected at roughly 4:30 p.m., authorities said.
Rescue personnel dug through roughly 13 feet of packed snow and debris before ultimately discovering the dead skier. Several more hours were spent digging to pull his body out of the snow, according to the department.
The search party made it down to the parking lot by around 9 p.m., officials said.
The fish and game department warned backcountry skiing is a "risky venture" that should only be attempted by the most prepared and experienced skiers.
Although the skier who died had years of experience and was prepared with an avalanche transceiver, skiing during avalanche conditions is never recommended and can be extremely dangerous, according to authorities.
"Without the transceiver, it is possible the skier's body may not have been located until the snow completely melted in the spring," the department said.
All the ski resort lockdowns have resulted in people back country skiing and almost surely with an actual greater loss of life.
Once people agreed that the drug war was reasonable, they also agreed that government should have their right to choose what risks that they take. Anyone who couldn't see all these lockdowns and mandatory vaccines coming was a fool; anyone who denies it is an idiot.
R.C.