Despite a lack of snow at lower elevations, avalanches are on a roll in the high country, including north of Durango in the San Juan Mountains, where two men were caught in a slide Monday afternoon near Ophir Pass.

Alex Spenser, 44, and Stephen Eginoire, 33, were taken by ambulance to Mercy Regional Medical Center where they were checked by doctors and released. A third man, Andrew Temple, 31, skied free of the slide.

All three are Silverton residents.

Avalanche danger in the San Juan Mountains was “high” above treeline Tuesday and “considerable” at lower elevations, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center hotline said Tuesday.

The Colorado Department of Transportation triggered several avalanches, including one on the north side of Red Mountain Pass and several on Molas Pass, although only the Red Mountain avalanche and one on Molas impacted travel on U.S. Highway 550, senior foreman Vance Kelso said.

The one on Red Mountain was about 150 feet wide and 6 feet deep.

“They flew a helicopter mission on Molas first thing this morning,” Kelso said. “All the shots they made ran, and the one that impacted the highway was 15 feet deep.

The peril of avalanches stretches beyond Southwest Colorado.

Two people were killed in separate avalanches during the weekend in Utah; and in Colorado, a snowmobiler was killed last week in an avalanche near Crested Butte.

Two of the three men caught in the Ophir Pass incident were rescued by San Juan County Search and Rescue.

“The three men were on their second run of the Tavern Slide Pass when the avalanche occurred,” San Juan County Sheriff Sue Kurtz said. “One skied out (Temple), but the other two were swept into some trees, but weren’t buried.”

All three men were able to reach Ophir Pass Road on their own, she said. Temple skied to U.S. Highway 550, Eginoire was able to ski with assistance and Spenser was taken out by snowmobile, Kurtz said.

A paramedic skied to the men to assess their conditions, Kurtz said. The snowmobile followed.

Ophir Pass Road is not plowed in the winter, she said.

One of the men texted a friend in Silverton who alerted authorities, she said.

Seven members of San Juan Search and Rescue were in the field, Kurtz said. Three others helped in supporting roles, she said.

daler@durangoherald.com