JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) - An experienced backcountry skier died after being swept 1,700 feet down a mountain by an avalanche, the first avalanche death in Jackson Hole this winter.

Ray Azar, 48, of Teton Village died Saturday of suffocation after being buried for about an hour, authorities said.

Friends say the avalanche swept Azar down the southeast face of the Pyramid, a peak north of Teton Pass. Azar had skied the same peak countless times before, they said.

Azar, who moved to Jackson in 1988, died doing what he loved, said friend Jon Patterson. Patterson and his partner, Beth Thebaud, had seen Azar earlier in the day and were the ones to find his body.

"He, more than anyone I can imagine, lived to ski," Thebaud said. Azar skied so often he earned the nickname "Every Day Ray."

Teton County Search and Rescue volunteers were extricating an injured snowboarder on Teton Pass when Search and Rescue administrator Doug Meyer got word of the avalanche at about 1:50 p.m. Saturday.

Thebaud and Patterson said they met Azar earlier on the trail. The three finished skinning up the peak together and parted ways at the summit, with Azar choosing to ski an east-facing route, the friends said.

As Patterson and Thebaud climbed for a second lap, Patterson glimpsed a four-foot crown where an avalanche had broken loose. After climbing higher for a better look, he could see the tracks of Azar and his dog, Bomber, going into the slide with none coming out.

Undertaking a transceiver search starting at the top of the slide, Patterson and Thebaud found Azar near the toe of the slide.

Azar was not breathing when they dug him out and attempts at CPR did not work.

Azar's dog was later found unscathed.

Bridger-Teton National Forest forecasters rated the avalanche danger Saturday as "considerable," meaning human-triggered slides were probable.

AP-WS-02-02-04 1206EST