3 expert skiers killed in Wash. avalanche

STEVENS PASS, Wash. -- Three skiers were killed Sunday when an avalanche swept them far down an out-of-bounds canyon at a popular resort, but a fourth skier caught up in the slide was saved by a safety device, authorities said.

The four were among three groups of skiers -- about a dozen in all -- making their way through a foot and a half of fresh snow on the back side of Stevens Pass, in the Cascade Mountains northeast of Seattle, when the avalanche hit. All were buried to some extent, but the men who died were swept about 1,500 feet down a chute in the Tunnel Creek Canyon area, King County Sheriff's Sgt. Katie Larson said. Most of the other skiers, all well-equipped, freed themselves and rushed to dig out the victims. They performed CPR on the three men to no avail, she said.

The fourth skier swept far down the mountain, a woman, appeared to avoid a similar fate because of the avalanche safety device she was wearing, Larson said. Larson didn't have details about the device. The men who died were believed to be in their 30s and 40s. "From what I'm told, they were all very knowledgeable, expert skiers," she said.

The initial reports of the avalanche reached the sheriff's office just after noon, and for some time it wasn't clear whether the other skiers had also been swept up in the slide. -- AP