Crews recover bodies of nine skiers after US avalanche

The recovery efforts had been put on hold for several days because of heavy snow and the threat of more avalanches.

Among those who died were six women who were close friends and experienced skiers, along with three professional guides. Six others on the trip survived the avalanche, the deadliest in the US since 1981.

A Black Hawk helicopter flew to where the fatal avalanche struck, amid an ongoing effort to make the area safe enough for crews to recover the bodies of the victims.

Officials said on Friday that they were using water to break up the snow in the area as avalanche mitigation work, a technique that is designed to intentionally release unstable snowpack to reduce the risk when rescue crews go in.