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Rescuers Find Footprints Near 600-Foot-Long Loveland Pass Avalanche

By Anna Maria Basquez

CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- Rescue crews in Clear Creek County early on Wednesday responded to an avalanche near Loveland Pass to look for anyone who could have been trapped. Crews are cautiously optimistic no one was trapped in the slide.

Colorado State Patrol closed Loveland Pass early Wednesday morning. The pass was closed for several hours during the search and reopened Wednesday afternoon.

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"At about 800 hours (8 a.m.), the Clear Creek Sheriff's Office Communication Center received a call of an avalanche in the area of Loveland pass/ski area, mile marker 225 on Hwy 6," said Clear Creek County Undersheriff Bruce Snelling in a press release. "The avalanche was described as several hundred feet wide and about 600 feet long. Rescuers observed a single track leading into the avalanche area."

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Rescuers responded from Alpine Rescue Team, Summit County Search and Rescue, Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office, Loveland Ski Patrol and Flight for Life, he said.

"The debris field is being searched by rescuers, avalanche dogs and use of a helicopter-mounted scanner," he said in the release.

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While officials responded as though someone was trapped, they discovered the area clear. Officials said they were acting in the case there was an entrapment.

"We have an avalanche dog, dog handler, and ART members upon the avalanche slide to determine if anyone is buried and if so, to rescue them," said Dawn Wilson, spokeswoman with Alpine Rescue Team. "There may be no one involved in this slide, or the worst-case scenario could occur."

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