DENVER -- Searchers braved a winter storm on Wednesday to hunt for two snowboarders who disappeared in the southwest Colorado mountains last weekend, but the weather kept two helicopters grounded.

"The weather is horrible," Mineral County sheriff's spokeswoman Sandy Kroll said. "You can't see, it's snowing, the wind is blowing."

Bad weather has repeatedly hampered the search for Michael George and Kyle Kerschen, both from Albuquerque, who were last seen on Saturday near the Wolf Creek ski resort about 170 miles southwest of Denver.

More than 4 feet of snow fell in the area during a weekend storm.

Searchers were out on skis, snowshoes and snowmobiles on Wednesday, but Kroll said she did not now how many.

Although the forecast called for lighter snow as the day went on, Kroll said it was still heavy in higher elevations by afternoon.

Even on Tuesday, when skies cleared and the helicopters were able to fly, searchers found no trace of the missing men.

"It's not looking good," said Laura George, Michael George's mother on Tuesday. "They can't seem to find any sign of them right now."

A searcher said if the two were trying to move in the storm, they'd have to negotiate waist-deep snow.

She said the men, both 27, were unprepared for cold nights in the open and probably didn't have much food or water. She is hoping they have taken shelter in a snow cave to wait out the storm.

Temperatures hovered around 10 degrees in the search area early Wednesday and were not expected to get much higher than the low 20s, National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Chamberlain said.

The weekend storm left up to 10,000 customers without power in La Plata County, about 220 miles southwest of Denver. Electricity had been restored to all but a few on Wednesday, La Plata Electric Association spokeswoman Indiana Reed said.

A person in the Wolf Creek Ski Area called dispatchers Saturday after finding the boarders' vehicle in the parking lot. Family members are in the area, helping in the search.

Searchers, including employees of the Wolf Creek Ski area, have looked near Tucker Pond, Treasure Falls, the area below the ski area, and several other sites.

About a dozen agencies are involved in the search, including search and rescue teams from Archuleta County, Upper San Juan Hospital District, Rio Grand County, Mineral County, Albuquerque police and the U.S. Forest Service.