Skiing community loses a pillar

SUMMIT COUNTY – The avalanche and snow science community lost one of its founding fathers this week, when Ed LaChapelle died of a heart attack while skiing powder at Monarch Mountain Thursday.

LaChapelle, who was 80, was skiing with a group that included his wife, Meg Hunt, Paula Mears, former Colorado Avalanche Information Center director Knox Williams and Art Mears, another Colorado-based avalanche expert.