The two skiers killed in a large avalanche in Colorado came from a small town in south central Wisconsin, relatives and colleagues said Monday, the Associated Press reported.
Justin Lentz and Jarrard Law of Portage, Wisconsin, were two skiers found dead on Sunday afternoon near Independence Pass, about 80 miles southwest of Denver, the Lake County Sheriff's Office said, according to the AP. Three other skiers were hospitalized following Saturday's avalanche which occurred near Leadville, Colorado.
Three skiers were hospitalized with injuries that included a broken leg, a broken ankle and a possible broken rib and collapsed lung, the AP reported. One has since been discharged from the hospital.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center had been warning of dangerous conditions across much of Colorado's mountains after two weeks of heavy snow that lured backcountry skiers and snowboarders to the high country, according to the AP.
Lentz's father, Robert Lentz said his son, Justin Lentz, of Portage, said his 32-year-old son loved to ski and started when he was 5 or 6 years old, the AP reported. Lentz said his son "was a good kid" who worked as an electrician and was engaged to be married.
Necedah Area School District Superintendent Larry Gierach says Law was an "incredible man," according to the AP.
"Jarrard had great skills with people and was an integral part of our planning when it came to technology," Gierach told the AP. Many staff members thought of him as a friend first and as a professional second, the superintendent said.
The school district planned to make grief counselors available to faculty and students, the AP reported.
Saturday's avalanche was the third deadly slide in Colorado in less than a week, authorities said Sunday, according to the AP.
Susan Matthews, a spokeswoman for the Lake County Office of Emergency Management, said seven skiers on Star Mountain near Leadville triggered the latest slide at about 5 p.m. Saturday, the AP reported.
"They were found near the top of the avalanche and they had beacons on, which really helped a lot," Matthews told the AP. "The terrain there is extremely steep."
