Snowboarder missing since Friday near Vail amid high avalanche danger

FILE — OCT. 13, 2023: Vail Mountain ski resort in Colorado took advantage of the cold weather this week and started making snow for the upcoming ski season. (Courtesy Max Ritter, Vail Mountain)

Want to see more of NewsNation? Get 24/7 fact-based news coverage with the NewsNation app or add NewsNation as a preferred source on Google!

DENVER (KDVR) — A snowboarder has been missing in Eagle County, Colorado, since Friday, the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office reported on Sunday afternoon.

The agency said it was informed of the missing snowboarder at about 4:30 p.m. on Friday when the 26-year-old man was reported overdue to return from the slopes.

Vail Mountain Rescue and Vail Ski Patrol began looking for the snowboarder’s last known location and looked in areas known to be commonly ridden by the missing man. The agency did not say that the man was missing at Vail Resort, nor did it clarify where the man was last seen.

The missing man was last seen wearing an orange ski suit with blue accents on the top portion and a grey helmet. He was riding a Salomon snowboard.

First responders are actively searching for the missing person, the agency reported Sunday afternoon, and more information will be released as information is made available.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Vail Dispatch at 970-479-2201.

As of Sunday afternoon, many of Colorado’s mountains were under avalanche watches, and many were also under special avalanche advisories. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center reported that heavy snow and strong winds have dramatically changed avalanche conditions.

“These avalanches may stay confined to the surface snow or step down to the ground, as we have seen close to Cameron Pass recently,” the CAIC reported Sunday.

The agency said backcountry explorers will likely find more than eight inches of new or wind-drifted snow and cracking and collapsing in the new snow will show slope instability.

Missing

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AUTO TEST CUSTOM HTML 20260112181412