Colorado's beautiful snow-capped peaks can also be dangerous. More than half a dozen people have already been involved in avalanche accidents this year.
Colorado’s avalanche season got off to an early, scary start this year, with a spate of close calls and injuries already reported by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
More than half a dozen people have been caught in slides, beginning with a pair of climbers Oct. 5 in Rocky Mountain National Park, where A 40-foot wide, 6-inch deep slab broke loose and took the climbers for a short ride down a steep, rocky pitch, according to the avalanche center.
A week later, three skiers near Independence Pass remotely triggered an avalanche in a steep, north-facing gully. That slide ran about 1,200 vertical feet.
On Oct. 17, a skier triggered a medium-size slide, about 2 feet deep. The avalanche took with it all the new snow from the October storms, right down to the surface of the permanent snowfield on the Tyndall Glacier in Rocky Mountain National Park.
At Jones Pass, another popular early season backcountry ski spot, a skier was caught in the middle of a slab and ended up with his legs buried in debris. Another skier suffered bumps and bruises when he was caught Oct. 25 in an avalanche on Flattop Mountain, in Rocky Mountain National Park. The latter slide broke 4 feet deep, showing how early season snowfall can quickly lead to mid-winter avalanche conditions.
Also on Oct. 25, a skier triggered a slab on a hard ice crust at 12,000 feet on an east-facing slope at Loveland Pass. The skier tumbled about 150 vertical feet, but there wasn’t enough snow to bury the skier. According to the avy center, the slide’s crown (where it broke away from the surrounding snow) was about 20 inches deep.
On October 31, a trio of skiers in the backcountry near the Climax Mine (near Fremont Pass, between Copper Mountain and Leadville) were involved in another serious incident that required a helicopter rescue.
Along with the helicopter, ground-based search and rescue teams slogged several miles through knee-deep snow to reach the scene, breaking through the unconsolidated early-season snow to the ground with nearly every step.
One skier was buried up to his neck and was hospitalized with serious injuries.
“People shouldn’t underestimate the avalanche danger in the early season,” said Dan Burnett, a veteran of the Summit County Search and Rescue Group.
Burnett said he’s been involved in numerous early season rescues, when victims said they thought they were safe because they could see grass sticking out through the snow. He said a relatively shallow snowpack is no indicator of safety. To the contrary, slick grass can bend and give way under the weight of fresh snow. Grass is an ideal sliding surface for avalanches, Burnett said.
The avalanche center has started forecasting for highway corridors on Nov. 1 and will begin its bulletins for backcountry recreation later in the month.
Filed under: Resort news, Skiing, Summit County, colorado skiing, snow | Tagged: avalanches, backcountry skiing, Colorado, colorado skiing, kids skiing, mountains, Rocky Mountains, ski industry, Summit County, Tenmile Range, travel
