The men who started a March 2020 avalanche above Eisenhower/Johnson Memorial Tunnels pleaded guilty Monday to misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment. “It would have been ridiculous to pass up 20 hours of community service and gamble with a financial loss for the rest of our lives. So it’s sad to bend over and get strong-armed by the DA, but that’s what we had to do,” one of the men said after the sentencing.
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A case that drew the attention of backcountry recreators across the Mountain West has come to a close.
Evan Hannibal and Tyler Dewitt
set off a backcountry avalanche in Colorado more than a year ago. That slide covered a service road and destroyed an avalanche mitigation device.
They were then charged with reckless endangerment, and prosecutors planned to use the snowboarders own camera footage that they gave to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. That alarmed some backcountry experts, who thought this kind of prosecution might discourage backcountry recreators from reporting avalanches, which could have deadly consequences.
Summit County District Attorney Heidi McCollum argued
The men who triggered an avalanche near the Eisenhower/Johnson Memorial Tunnels last year are expected to accept a plea agreement next month, and it would not include any of the proposed $168,000 in restitution.