At a Glance

An avalanche at Taos Ski Valley resort buried two skiers Thursday.One person was killed and a second critically injured.

One man is dead and another critically injured after being were buried by an avalanche Thursday at a New Mexico ski resort.

Chris Stagg, vice president of Taos Ski Valley ski resort confirmed that two men had been rescued from the avalanche that at the resort near Kachina Peak in northern New Mexico.

Later on Thursday, Holy Cross Hospital CEO Bill Patten confirmed that of his injuries just before 5 p.m., Taos News reported.

The second man was airlifted to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where he is being treated for critical injuries.

A was called off around 2 p.m., when authorities determined there were "no additional people involved," according to a statement by the ski resort.

An unnamed witness speaking to the Taos News detailed the moment the avalanche occurred.

"I see two people trying to come down and a third person on the left. They were really good skiers, it looked like. I turned my back to put my bindings on ... and then I heard a sound," she said. "It sounded like an earthquake coming."

It's unclear what triggered the avalanche, officials say. Earlier in the day, the resort set off explosives aimed at triggering avalanches before skiers take to the slopes.

“We had checked that area for this morning and enacted controls,” Chris Stagg, a spokesman for Taos Ski Valley, told USA Today. “This is a great example that you’re never 100 percent certain.”

Up to 16 inches of snow has fallen in the Taos Ski Valley in the last week alone, according to weather.com meteorologists James Wilson and Jonathan Belles.

An extremely active winter thus far in New Mexico has padded the snowpack in the mountains of northern New Mexico and some spots have had twice their usual winter snowfall through mid-January.