Time: 12:30 PM (Estimated) Summary Description: 1 backcountry skier caught, buried, and killed Avalanche Comments: This was a soft slab avalanche triggered by a skier. The avalanche was small relative to the path and destructive enough to injure, bury, or kill a person. The avalanche failed on an old layer of faceted snow.. The crown face of the avalanche was 3 to 7 feet deep, 400 feet wide, and the debris ran about 400 feet. At the crown of the avalanche the faceted snow layer was three to seven feet below the snowpack surface. One hundred vertical feet down slope from the crown face, the snowpack was shallower, not wind affected, and the weak layer was only two feet from the surface. This was a Persistent Slab avalanche.
The red line in this image marks the face of the avalanche crown on the Chimeny Chute avalanche path.The red arrow shows the flow of the avalanche out of the bottom of the rock-walled chute.
Photo from Colorado Avalanche Information Center
A 57-year-old Boulder man was alone and did not have an avalanche beacon on him when he was killed by avalanche on Saturday.
However, even having a partner might have not been enough to save him, according to a new report produced by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
“(The skier) sustained significant traumatic injuries in the avalanche,” the report explained. “He might not have survived the avalanche even if he was touring with partners able to perform a quick rescue and recovery.”
An avalanche warning was issued Tuesday for the central and southern mountains, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center said.
One to 2 feet of new snow and strong winds have created dangerous avalanche conditions in the high country.
On a scale of 1 to 5, areas along and south of Interstate 70 are rated a 4. The warning is in effect until 8 a.m. Wednesday.
Areas under the avalanche warning include the Aspen, Grand Mesa, Gunnison, Sangre de Cristo, San Juan and Sawatch areas.
The CAIC said some avalanches will release naturally and it will be easy for humans to trigger large slides in the backcountry.