Veteran Mountain Rescue Aspen team member’s body recovered

The Mountain Rescue Aspen team on Tuesday recovered the body of one of its own, a 30-year veteran of the team who died in an avalanche west of Aspen Highlands.

The body of John Galvin, a 57year-old Roaring Fork Valley resident, was recovered by an 11member team.

The team included six people used as backup perched on top of Aspen Highlands and four members dropped into the field by a Blackhawk helicopter from the Colorado High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site, according to a Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Galvin and another skier were swept up by an avalanche in the Maroon Bowl, west of the Aspen Highlands Ski Area boundary, on Sunday.

Recovery teams couldn’t get to Galvin on Sunday or Monday because of adverse snow conditions, the sheriff’s office said.

The other skier, who has not been identified, survived the avalanche.

According to details from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, the two skiers exited Aspen Highlands Ski Resort through a backcountry access gate and used climbing skins — which attach to skis to aid in ascending snowy terrain — to go up through Maroon Bowl.

The skiers triggered the avalanche, the information center said.

“John helped save lives of hundreds of visitors and locals who were in need while injured or stranded in our mountains,” said MRA president Justin Hood in a news release. “John will be missed by all on our team and in our community.”