MARBLE, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado skier has been killed and two other people were injured after getting caught in a large backcountry avalanche.

The body of Joel Shute, 36, of Glenwood Springs was recovered Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

Shute had been missing since Friday evening, when he was buried in an avalanche that swept 2,400 feet down a mountainside. The victims had been backcountry touring southwest of the town of Marble in western Colorado, authorities said.

The avalanche was two to three feet deep where it began and up to 500 feet wide, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center said. Rescue teams found the victim’s body buried about four feet deep in avalanche debris, the center said.

A skier and snowboarder who were with Shute survived. The snowboarder hiked out to get help and rescue teams evacuated the injured skier by helicopter. Both were taken to the hospital, the Gunnison County Sheriff’s office said.

Recent storms have raised avalanche risks.

Eighteen people have been killed across the U.S. by avalanches so far this winter, including 8 in Colorado. Avalanches in the winter of 2020-2021 killed 37 people nationwide, which was the most recorded by the avalanche center in records going back to 1950.

Members of Shute’s family said he was aware of avalanche dangers but devoted to skiing. The victim’s mother, Lisa Gerstner, said he spent lots of time travelling and used his pilot’s license to fly his dad and friends for work trips and recreation.

“Skiing was Joel’s life,” brother Aaron Shute told KDVR-TV. “It was his passion and what he wanted to do with his life,