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ASPEN — The body of Aspen carpenter and avid backcountry skier John Kelley was recovered Wednesday morning after he got caught in an avalanche south of Aspen on Tuesday.
A canine search team found his body in the debris field of a large avalanche near the Lindley Hut in the Cooper Creek Basin, located above the Ashcroft Ski Touring area. The slide was about 150 yards long and 20 to 30 feet wide at the bottom, according to Mountain Rescue Aspen.
Kelley, 60, died of suffocation. Multisystem trauma, which included multiple fractures, was a contributing factor, said Pitkin County Deputy Coroner Dr. Chuck Johnson.
He likely died within minutes after the avalanche, Johnson said.
Kelley's body was airlifted to Aspen Valley Hospital.
Pitkin County Sheriff's Deputy Joe Bauer said the victim was found fairly quickly by one of the avalanche dogs, so it's likely he wasn't buried too deeply and not at the end of the slide.
Kelley apparently wasn't wearing a beacon.
The avalanche occurred around 4 p.m., however, none of the other seven skiers in the group witnessed the slide. The group had separated, and Kelley was skiing with one other person in the area, reportedly local resident Tim Madsen.
The area where the slide occurred is about a 10- or 15-minute hike from the hut, according to authorities.
Once the group realized that an avalanche had occurred and Kelley was missing, they immediately started searching and probing while another person who was at the hut but not connected with them got to the Pine Creek Cookhouse to alert authorities at about 6 p.m., Bauer said.
About 18 members of Mountain Rescue, plus three canine search teams and a helicopter, responded. The effort resumed at 7:40 a.m., and Mountain Rescue alerted the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office shortly before 9 a.m. Wednesday that Kelley's body had been found.
Bauer said rescuers were planning for a multiday recovery effort, knowing the odds of finding Kelley alive were not good.
“We kind of knew what we were dealing with,” he said.
Bauer spent the morning at the hut with Kelley's friends and family who were on what was supposed to be a multiday trip with him. The group was devastated, Bauer said. They were taken out of the backcountry via helicopter and snowmobile by Mountain Rescue.
Reached Wednesday evening, family and friends declined to comment.
“He was very well-known locally,” Bauer said, adding some rescuers knew Kelley, making the situation even more difficult. “He lived to ski the backcountry.”
Kelley was a former employee of Ashcroft Ski Touring. A representative there declined to comment except to say, “He was a personal friend, and I loved him dearly.”
His death was the first avalanche fatality this year in Pitkin County.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center rated the avalanche danger in the Aspen area as considerable on Wednesday, down from a high rating on Monday. On Tuesday, the rating was considerable at most aspects and elevations, but was still rated high on south- to east-facing slopes.
Also Tuesday, a snowboarder triggered an avalanche on Richmond Ridge, off the back of Aspen Mountain, according to the CAIC report. Rescue crews brought avalanche dogs to the site, but no one was found in the debris. The slide was more than a foot deep and about 100 feet wide, according to the report.
The Lindley Hut is part of the Alfred A. Braun Hut System. It's located at an elevation of about 10,480 feet, about 16 miles south of Aspen, in the Elk Mountains.
csack@aspentimes.com
A canine search team found his body in the debris field of a large avalanche near the Lindley Hut in the Cooper Creek Basin, located above the Ashcroft Ski Touring area. The slide was about 150 yards long and 20 to 30 feet wide at the bottom, according to Mountain Rescue Aspen.
Kelley, 60, died of suffocation. Multisystem trauma, which included multiple fractures, was a contributing factor, said Pitkin County Deputy Coroner Dr. Chuck Johnson.
He likely died within minutes after the avalanche, Johnson said.
Kelley's body was airlifted to Aspen Valley Hospital.
Pitkin County Sheriff's Deputy Joe Bauer said the victim was found fairly quickly by one of the avalanche dogs, so it's likely he wasn't buried too deeply and not at the end of the slide.
Kelley apparently wasn't wearing a beacon.
The avalanche occurred around 4 p.m., however, none of the other seven skiers in the group witnessed the slide. The group had separated, and Kelley was skiing with one other person in the area, reportedly local resident Tim Madsen.
The area where the slide occurred is about a 10- or 15-minute hike from the hut, according to authorities.
Once the group realized that an avalanche had occurred and Kelley was missing, they immediately started searching and probing while another person who was at the hut but not connected with them got to the Pine Creek Cookhouse to alert authorities at about 6 p.m., Bauer said.
About 18 members of Mountain Rescue, plus three canine search teams and a helicopter, responded. The effort resumed at 7:40 a.m., and Mountain Rescue alerted the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office shortly before 9 a.m. Wednesday that Kelley's body had been found.
Bauer said rescuers were planning for a multiday recovery effort, knowing the odds of finding Kelley alive were not good.
“We kind of knew what we were dealing with,” he said.
Bauer spent the morning at the hut with Kelley's friends and family who were on what was supposed to be a multiday trip with him. The group was devastated, Bauer said. They were taken out of the backcountry via helicopter and snowmobile by Mountain Rescue.
Reached Wednesday evening, family and friends declined to comment.
“He was very well-known locally,” Bauer said, adding some rescuers knew Kelley, making the situation even more difficult. “He lived to ski the backcountry.”
Kelley was a former employee of Ashcroft Ski Touring. A representative there declined to comment except to say, “He was a personal friend, and I loved him dearly.”
His death was the first avalanche fatality this year in Pitkin County.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center rated the avalanche danger in the Aspen area as considerable on Wednesday, down from a high rating on Monday. On Tuesday, the rating was considerable at most aspects and elevations, but was still rated high on south- to east-facing slopes.
Also Tuesday, a snowboarder triggered an avalanche on Richmond Ridge, off the back of Aspen Mountain, according to the CAIC report. Rescue crews brought avalanche dogs to the site, but no one was found in the debris. The slide was more than a foot deep and about 100 feet wide, according to the report.
The Lindley Hut is part of the Alfred A. Braun Hut System. It's located at an elevation of about 10,480 feet, about 16 miles south of Aspen, in the Elk Mountains.
csack@aspentimes.com
