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Joe Timlin, of Gypsum, killed in Saturday’s slide

Jason Blevins
The Denver Post
Vail, CO Colorado
LOVELAND PASS, CO- APRIL 21, 2013: Scott Toepfer, right, a member of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC), takes depth measurements every 50 feet at the crown of the avalanche on April 21, 2013. In the back round are Brian Lazar and John Snook, who walk along the crown to find an area to dig a snow pit to investigate the layers of snow where the avalanche broke off. The avalanche occurred in an area known as Sheep Creek near Loveland Pass on Saturday. The deadly avalanche killed 5 snowboarders. The trio are doing what is called a fracture line profile of the crown of the avalanche, or where the hard slab avalanche broke off. They are looking for weak layers in the snow pack to help discover what contributed to the avalanche. The avalanche was on the western flank of Mount Sniktau and happened around 2:00 pm on Saturday. (Photo By Helen H. Richardson/ The Denver Post)
DP | THE DENVER POST

LOVELAND PASS – The five men killed Saturday in Colorado’s deadliest avalanche in 50 years were participants in a backcountry snowboarder event called the Rocky Mountain High Backcountry Bash.

Four of the five were expert snowboarders and one was an expert skier.

They were representatives and founders of snowsport companies, guides, avalanche experts and veteran backcountry travelers, gathering in the generally safer spring season to celebrate backcountry snowboarding, raise money for the Colorado Avalanche Information Center and test the newest gear.



The five killed in the avalanche were:

• Chris Peters, 32, was from Lakewood.

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• Joe Timlin, a 32-year-old sales representative with Jones Snowboards from Gypsum and an organizer of the backcountry gathering.

• Ryan Novack, 33, of Boulder.

• Ian Lamphere, a 36-year-oldskier from Crested Butte with an infant and fiance. Lamphere founded the company Gecko Skins, which makes innovative climbing skins.

• Rick Gaukel, a 33-year-old American Mountain Guides Association-certified climbing guide with extensive avalanche education from Estes Park.

To read the rest of this article, go to:

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_23074729/colorado-avalanche-victims-bash-tragic


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