I was digging like a maniac. She heard no sounds and saw no movement. Emergency crews, which were 14 miles away and delayed because of blowing snow and icy conditions, found Campestre crushed under about five feet of packed snow. Campestre is the first person to die in an avalanche in Colorado since the winter of 1995-96, when seven people died, according to published reports. The area, which is at about 11,000 feet elevation, had received snow over that weekend and the wind had been blowing mightily for several days.
High winds are a common factor in the formation of slab avalanches.
Ann Marie then got a job at Cambridge Elementary School in the Travis Unified School District. They moved into an apartment in Vacaville with their four children, and had gone back to Colorado to spend the holidays and try to sell their house. Ann Marie, too, emphasized his skills, saying he had hiked in Yosemite National Park and had climbed Mount Lassen. She mentioned one last story that will forever linger in her mind. Two days before the accident, she and her husband watched an avalanche awareness video on television.