Chad Abraham:
"Snowmass Village resident Keith Ames was killed in an avalanche Wednesday outside the Snowmass Ski Area, while Aspenite Gabriel Lee Hilliard died shortly before that after colliding with trees at Aspen Highlands.
Ames, 43, worked as a bartender at the Village Steakhouse in the Wildwood Lodge in Snowmass. A co-worker said authorities notified him that Ames had perished in an avalanche in the Burnt Mountain sidecountry of Snowmass Ski Area. Ames was scheduled to work on Wednesday but didn’t show up.
John Bender, assistant manager at the Wildwood, worked with Ames, who bartended at the inn five nights a week.
“I liked working with him, he was a good man,” Bender said Wednesday night. “It was very unusual when he didn’t show up for work today.”
An investigation done by the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office revealed three acquaintances had met at Snowmass Ski Area and decided to ski together. Witnesses to the incident, which occurred at about 1:45 p.m., reported Ames dropped in from a ridge above, knocking loose a section of snow. When Ames came to rest at the bottom of the 25-yard-long section, the snow caught up to him and buried him. Bystanders on scene had to dig Ames out from the under the snow, which took approximately 10 minutes, while others on scene contacted 911. Snowmass Ski Patrol arrived on scene at 2:18 p.m. while CPR was being administered to Ames by the bystanders. At approximately 02:50 p.m., Ames was pronounced dead.
Personnel with Mountain Rescue Aspen acted as advisors to the Snowmass Ski Patrol because of the difficult terrain, said Alex Burchetta, a deputy with the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office. Burnt Mountain is located outside of the ski-area boundary adjacent to the Snowmass Ski Area, and ski patrol does not maintain the area...".
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