Avalanche buries two near Kachina Peak in Taos

Photo: Taos Ski Resort. Avalanche buries two near Kachina Peak.

Avalanche buries two near Kachina Peak in Taos

TSV: Two skiers extracted, ‘no additional victims’

From Taos News

Two skiers were critically injured in an avalanche on Thursday (Jan. 17) near Kachina Peak, the highest point at Taos Ski Valley ski resort.

According to a press release from the resort, an “inbounds avalanche” occurred in chute three on Kachina Peak just before noon, burying two men, who have not yet been identified.

Rescuers searching the snow extracted the men just before 1 p.m. and performed CPR on them before rushing them to the base of the resort.

Avalanche buries two near Kachina Peak.
Avalanche buries two near Kachina Peak.

According to a report heard on Taos Central Dispatch before 3 p.m., a medic transporting one of the men in an ambulance to Holy Cross Hospital in Taos said she had “one male trauma patient,” for whom she had established an IV and an intubator, a medical device that helps a person breath when they are unconscious.

Taos County Emergency Services Chief Chris Medina said the other man was also in critical condition and was being flown by helicopter to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque.

According to a press release from the ski resort, the search for others who might have been buried was called off after 2 p.m., when rescuers determined there to be “no additional victims.”

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