Dad: Son ‘was just a joy’

David Kihara and Mary Manning

Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2005 | 11 a.m.

Allen Brett Hutchison, the 13-year-old who was killed in an avalanche on Sunday afternoon at the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort, was one of those rare teenagers who didn't like sitting around watching television or playing computer games.

Instead, the eighth grader from Sig Rogich Middle School preferred to snowboard or play golf with his friends or family, his father, Nelson Hutchison, said on Monday.

"He liked to do things -- he wasn't a TV watcher," Hutchison said. "He was just a joy."

Hutchison recalled that Allen had been excited in the days leading up to the accident because he heard the reports of snow at Mount Charleston, and on Sunday Allen and his mother, Rita, went to the ski resort.

It was while they were riding a ski lift that the avalanche at the resort hit, swiping Allen off the chair lift and burying him under 10 feet of snow.

Some 60 people helped search for Allen, including members of the Clark County Fire Department, Metro Police Search and Rescue and the U.S. Forest Service ski patrol.

Allen was eventually found dead at about 9:45 p.m. at the resort in Lee Canyon, a victim of the avalanche.

"It's been a real tough day," Hutchison said.

Hutchison also said that his son was popular and a leader among his friends, and was "just the type of kid who just accepted everyone."

He said Allen was incredibly good natured, and he couldn't remember ever seeing his son unduly angy or depressed.

"He didn't get really hot and he didn't get really cold -- he was just a really good kid," Hutchison said.

The Hutchisons moved to Las Vegas 2 1/2 years ago from San Francisco, where Allen had grown up. News of his death also overwhelmed friends and parents in California.

"His former classmates are devastated with grief over the news of the loss of a good friend," said Elizabeth Gonzales, the mother of a student at All Saints Elementary School, where Allen attended before moving to Nevada.

"Our prayers and thoughts are with the family," Gonzales said by e-mail on Monday.

Allen is survived by his parents as well as sisters Chanel, 15, and Britanny, 18.

Hutchison said he is not blaming the resort or the response teams for not reaching his son sooner, saying it was an accident. But he is still hoping to get more information about the accident.

"We're not mad at anybody -- we're just confused," Hutchison said.