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SAM Magazine--Winter Park, Colo., March 25, 2004--Explosives used for avalanche control were stolen from the Winter Park ski area last weekend.

On Monday morning, ski resort patrollers found that an undisclosed number of high-explosive Trojan Boosters, cylinders packed with pentaerythritol tetranitrate, had been taken from a locked storage shed on the mountain.

Officials from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms joined the Grand County Sheriff's office in the investigation Tuesday. Investigators suspect that the break-in was aimed at acquiring the explosives and was not a juvenile prank, but know of no motives for the heist.

However, Grand County Undersherriff Glen Trainor told the Denver Post that the explosive "is fairly easy to manufacture and fairly powerful. So it has been a tool used by terrorists in the past."

Resort spokesman Matt Sugar said officials have "taken preventative measures" to ensure that the remaining explosives are secure. \