Search called off for more A-Basin avalanche victims

BRECKENRIDGE – The man killed in an avalanche while skiing on an open run at Arapahoe Basin was the only victim of the slide, ski resort officials said Saturday.The search for other victims, which was suspended Friday afternoon due to extreme avalanche danger, was called off Saturday after authorities received no reports of missing skiers.David Conway, 53, of Boulder, was skiing on the Pallavicini trail when the avalanche broke around 10:30 a.m. Friday, the Summit County coroner’s office said. Conway was buried by the slide measuring 1,000 feet long and 300 to 400 feet wide.The expert run had been open to skiers after crews inspected the trail earlier Friday and used explosives to prevent an avalanche.The trail and lift leading to the run were closed Saturday and will remain closed for the rest of the season, ski resort spokeswoman Leigh Hierholzer said.Conway was the first person in 30 years to die from an avalanche within the boundaries of a Colorado ski area, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.The Conway family’s neighbor, Gayle Boethling, said friends and family were shocked by the death because Conway, a construction company owner and the father of two daughters, was not reckless with his skiing and did not ski out-of-bounds.”He wouldn’t go on it (the run) if they told him it was closed,” she told KCNC-TV in Denver. “It’s a total shock, I couldn’t believe it.”At least five people died from avalanches in Colorado this season, the avalanche center reported.The last fatal avalanche within a ski area boundary in Colorado was at Crested Butte on Jan. 9, 1975, according to the center.