Deadly avalanche under investigation by feds
U.S. Forest Service staffers are looking into what happened to cause an avalanche at Taos Ski Valley that killed two young men.
Staffers say they are involved because Taos Ski Valley is under a special-use permit to operate on national forest land.
An employee with the Forest Service says the review of this case is not affected by the government shutdown — because the employees who are investigating it have not been furloughed.
Here's what staffers at Taos Ski Valley employees have said about the avalanche:
Just before noon Thursday, a layer of snow broke free and buried 22-year-old Corey Borg-Massanari and 26-year-old Matthew Zonghetti.
Both were experienced skiers.
Volunteers, members of the ski patrol and rescue dogs jumped into action, searching and digging to find the buried skiers.
People who took part in the rescue say it took at least 20 minutes to get the young men out from under the snow. Both were given CPR but did not survive.
On the morning of the accident, the ski patrol had detonated explosives to try and reduce the chance of an avalanche on the mountain's dangerous terrain.
It could take days or weeks before the review of this case is complete.