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Avalanche kills 29-year-old Telluride man

The San Miguel County Sheriff's Office said the avalanche was spotted by a local heli-ski outfitter who then located the victim with an aerial beacon search.

TELLURIDE, Colo. — A 29-year-old man was killed in an avalanche 13 miles south of Telluride Thursday, the Sam Miguel County Sheriff's Office said. 

The avalanche was spotted by a local heli-ski outfitter who used an aerial beacon search to locate the victim. 

The San Miguel Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post that the victim of the deadly slide is Devin Overton, who lived in Telluride and was a snowboarder sponsored by Venture Snowboards. 

The avalanche was spotted by Helitrax, a local heli-ski outfitter, around 3 p.m. Thursday. As the helicopter flew into the Trout Lake area, the crew saw signs of a fresh slide, along with "a single set of tracks going into the slide area, but none coming out," the sheriff's office said.

Deputies said the avalanche occurred in the Poverty Gulch area south of Trout Lake, 13 miles south of Telluride.

As the sheriff's office launched a search and rescue mission, Helitrax started an aerial beacon search, detected a signal and landed. The crew located Overton, who had been buried by debris. 

Credit: San Miguel County Sheriff
A Telluride man was killed in an avalanche in the Poverty Gulch area.

Overton's bio on the Venture Snowboards website said the Colorado native was raised in Ridgway. He worked nights as a waiter to spend his days adventuring in the San Juan Mountains. 

He's quoted as saying he lived for, "brutally early mornings and painfully long climbs rewarded with magical views, blower powder, and a genuine feeling of happiness."

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Search teams recovered his body and notified his family. 

The sheriff's office extended its condolences to the family with a social media post that read, "On behalf of the entire Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Masters wishes to extend deepest condolences to Mr. Overton’s family and many friends."

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