A Colorado woman learned her husband was buried by an avalanche after he never checked in as planned, and she began searching for him under the snow. 

Donald Moden Jr., a 57-year-old veteran skier who was once a member of the Ouray Mountain Rescue Team, was killed on Jan. 7 in an area off Red Mountain Pass known as “Bollywood,” the Ouray County Plaindealer reported. 

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) wrote in a report that the 57-year-old was likely buried for more than four hours before he was found. 

The avalanche was 800 feet wide and traveled 400 feet vertically, the agency wrote. 

The head and toe of the Ouray County avalanche that killed Moden are right and left, respectively. (CAIC)

Moden skied on an adjacent slope a day earlier and probably did not see signs of dangerous snowpack, the CAIC said. 

Moden’s death is the first reported avalanche fatality in Colorado this ski season. Since Nov. 9, the CAIC has reported 25 backcountry skiiers and travelers caught in 23 different avalanches.

Seven of those victims were buried in snow and debris. According to the Colorado Sun, those numbers are not notably higher than those in previous seasons.