The Ridgway man who died Jan. 7 in an avalanche in southwestern Colorado was found by his wife who went to the trail after he did not check in as planned, Colorado Avalanche Information Center officials said Tuesday in their updated report.
Donald Moden Jr., who was 57 and a one-time member of the Ouray Mountain Rescue team, was killed in an area known as “Bollywood” east of U.S. 550 off Red Mountain Pass, the Ouray County coroner told the Ouray County Plaindealer. CAIC officials say the avalanche was 800-feet wide and traveled 400 vertical feet.
His wife contacted the sheriff’s office when Moden had not checked in as planned, then she went to the trailhead. She arrived at the avalanche and turned on a transceiver and immediately got a signal, CAIC reported. She then located him with an avalanche probe and yelled for help. Other backcountry skiers arrived, followed by the Ouray Mountain Rescue team…