One person died and three others were injured when an avalanche occurred in the Vail area of Colorado on Tuesday, according to Associated Press.
Eagle County Sheriff spokeswoman Jessie Mosher said the avalanche occurred around 11:30 a.m between Vail Mountain and Vail Pass, about 80 miles west of Denver, the AP reported. The three survivors sustained non-life threatening injuries.
Mosher said rescuers were "actively trying to get individuals out" and taken to the nearest hospital for treatment, the Denver Post reported.
The area where the avalanche occurred is not part of the area's ski resort which is one of the largest and most well known in North America, according to Reuters.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center warned of dangerous conditions to the slopes on Monday and said slabs of snow were likely to be unstable due to the recent snowfall, Reuters reported. The center reported the avalanche as "large" around 1 p.m.
Its warning read: "Cautious route-finding and conservative decision-making essential," according to the Denver Post.
Briana Lazar, the center's deputy executive director, said sunday that "because the snow arrived with a lot of wind, that is largely responsible for the increased avalanche hazard," adding the avalanche danger was either level two or three, meaning it was highly considerable in mountain areas, the Denver Post reported.
The most recent avalanche to occur in the East Vail area happened on Dec. 22 when skiers triggered two avalanches that trapped one of the skiers who was later rescued by his brother, the Denver Post reported.
