(CNN) Two people died in separate avalanches in Colorado on Sunday, the latest in a series of deadly avalanches that have already claimed the lives of 17 others across seven states this year. The fatalities mark the fifth and sixth avalanche deaths in the state in 2021, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC)A snowboarder was caught in an avalanche Sunday morning near the Loveland Pass Ski area, the CAIC website shows. The snowboarder was traveling in a backcountry area about 50 miles west of Denver when the avalanche struck around 9:30 a.m. local time (11 a.m. A snowboarder was caught and killed in an avalanche near Loveland Pass ski area Sunday. The avalanche ran on an east facing slope east of Mount Trelease at an elevation over 12,000 feet, the preliminary report from CAIC said.

Source: CNN February 15, 2021 10:07 UTC