Man dies in avalanche near Crested Butte

A man is dead after being buried in an avalanche in the backcountry near Crested Butte.

Investigators believe 32-year-old Daniel Bradly Sethness was riding on a snowmobile with another person near Kebler Pass Thursday when they triggered a large avalanche. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center says he is the first confirmed avalanche fatality in the state this season and the ninth person to die in a slide in the West since November.

This week, a backcountry skier was also killed in Utah, a snowboarder died in Wyoming and a backcountry skier was killed in Montana.

In Colorado, authorities say a man missing after going for a hike last weekend may have been swept up in an avalanche that searchers found. The avalanche area is too unstable to search.