2 people rescued after avalanche at New Mexico ski resort

TAOS SKI VALLEY, N.M. – 2 people were buried after an avalanche hit a popular New Mexico ski resort.

The Taos News reports the avalanche occurred near Kachina Peak in Taos, New Mexico just before noon MST Thursday. The area is the highest point in the Taos Ski Valley resort.

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A resort spokesperson says two male skiers were pulled from the snow and had CPR performed on them. The men were trapped for 22 minutes but are still alive, although their conditions are unknown. 

A Taos News photographer reported the avalanche is greater than 30 feet deep and probes were not able to reach the bottom.

Taos Ski Valley said the avalanche happened on a run known as K3. It was unknown what triggered the avalanche.

Kachina Peak is a nearly 12,500-foot summit with several mountainside chutes that expert skiers and snowboarders can dart down. The 1,200-acre ski resort north of Taos is one of the largest ski resorts in New Mexico.

George Brooks, the director of the nonprofit Ski New Mexico, which promotes the sport, said avalanches are fairly rare in the state, and typically terrain is very well controlled at the area's ski areas. The avalanche comes as the state has enjoyed one of its best ski seasons in years after a spell of dry winters.

"If they occur, it's not usually when anybody is around," Brooks said of New Mexico avalanches.

The mountain had received 2 inches of snow in the last day and 15 inches in the last week, the Taos Ski Valley website said. The spot where the avalanche happened is prone to winds that can blow up the mountain and cause a cornice, meaning avalanches can occur there even without a high level of recent snowfall, Brooks said.