Hunt likely to resume this summer for missing Colorado climber

ALAMOSA, Colo. ” Authorities hope to resume the hunt this summer for a 20-year-old mountain climber who was swept away by a massive southern Colorado avalanche in January.

Lygon Stevens of Loveland was climbing Little Bear Peak with her brother, 22-year-old Nick Stevens, when the avalanche hit on Jan. 11. Nick Stevens dug himself out but found no sign of his sister.

It took him a day to hike out to a point where his cell phone would work.

Alamosa County Search and Rescue Director Kevin Wright said Tuesday conditions are still too dangerous for searchers to return to the site, about 140 miles south of Denver.

Wright and other searchers were in the area on May 24 but could not get to the scene because of lingering ice and snow. New snow has fallen there as recently as the second week of May.

Wright said searchers have regularly scanned the area with high-power optics from nearby but have seen no signs of the missing woman.

Wright said he hopes to mount a recovery mission in the next month or two with a helicopter and trained dogs, if they are available.

Lygon and Nick Stevens were experienced climbers and had reached the summit of Alaska’s 20,320-foot Mount McKinley, North America’s tallest peak.

Lygon Stevens was a student at the University of Northern Colorado and Nick was a Colorado State student.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center said five people and a dog were killed by avalanches in the state last season.