{"id":2454669,"date":"2020-02-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-18T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=321075"},"modified":"2020-02-18T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-02-18T07:00:00","slug":"tributes-pour-in-for-gypsum-men-killed-in-an-avalanche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/tributes-pour-in-for-gypsum-men-killed-in-an-avalanche\/","title":{"rendered":"Tributes pour in for Gypsum men killed in an avalanche"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gypsum locals Dillon Block, 28, and Cesar \u201cPollo\u201d Almanza-Hernandez, 30, died Saturday after being buried by an avalanche while riding Timbersleds near Muddy Pass.<\/p>\n

The news of the deaths rushed through the downvalley community quicker than official reports. Peers who walked the halls of Eagle Valley High School with the two shared precious memories on Facebook. Friend Elena Hernandez established a GoFundMe page to assist their families. In less than 20 hours, she had collected more than $20,000 as contributors talked about how Almanza-Hernandez, who was known as \u201cPollo\u201d among friends and family, and Block touched their lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this thing that happens when you grow up in a small town; all the fibers of everyone\u2019s lives weave together,\u201d wrote former classmate Casey Medsker Huff in a memorial to Almanza-Hernandez and Block. \u201cYou share first and last days of school. Invite each other to kiddie birthday parties. Play youth sports together. Pick teams on the blacktop at recess. You grow up together. Elementary, then middle, then high school. You take the same classes and talk about your dreams. You hug in the hallway and high five on the court. You cheer each other on. You pick each other up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen you turn 18, you graduate high school, and some of you move away while some of you stay. Lives change. Relationships are put on hold or morph into something different. Dreams evolve. But somewhere in your heart, there\u2019s still that small town tapestry embedded into your DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n

It has been a decade since Almanza-Hernandez graduated from Eagle Valley High School, and almost that long for Block. But inevitably, when a native son passes unexpectedly and tragically, folks tend to remember times spent together during their high school days.<\/p>\n

Longtime EVHS teacher and coach John Ramunno had fond memories of both Almanza-Hernandez and Block.<\/p>\n

Both men were members of the EVHS football team and they both enrolled in Ramunno\u2019s weightlifting classes. Almanza earned all-league recognition as a defensive tackle.<\/p>\n

After he graduated, Almanza-Hernandez assisted Ramunno as a volunteer football coach. Over the years, Ramunno periodically bumped into his former student while skiing at Beaver Creek.<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, could he ride a snowboard. He would fly by me like I was standing still,\u201d Ramunno said. \u201cIf I was at the Blue Moose at lunchtime, Pollo would always get me something to eat. He\u2019d say \u2018The season\u2019s coming, coach. You gotta bulk up.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Block also was a standout football talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis senior year, he was one of the stars of our team,\u201d Ramunno said. \u201cDillon loved auto shop. He had a passion for that and every day he looked forward to getting out to auto shop and working. Jay Taylor hired him right out of high school.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were super kids and they were both way too young,\u201d Ramunno said. \u201cI am so sad for their families. They both had a lot ahead of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gypsum locals Dillon Block, 28, and Cesar \u201cPollo\u201d Almanza-Hernandez, 30, died Saturday after being buried by an avalanche while riding Timbersleds near Muddy Pass. The news of the deaths rushed through the downvalley community quicker than official reports. Peers who walked the halls of Eagle Valley High School with the two shared precious memories on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2454669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 15:00:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2454669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454669\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2454669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2454669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2454669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}