The Colorado Avalanche Information Center is urging people to take extra care when venturing into the backcountry after a deadly period when there were 49 slides triggered by humans, nine people caught and three killed between Friday and Sunday afternoon.
The snowpack is the weakest that experts with CAIC have seen since 2012, according to director Ethan Greene. Colorado is notorious for a weather pattern that brings late-fall snowstorms followed by dry periods. The old layers become weak. When later storms start piling up the old layers are unstable and produce avalanches.
Colorado’s Central Mountains received between 1 and 2 feet of snow since Dec. 10, piling on top of the old, unstable layers.
Most of the Colorado Rockies are currently in “considerable” avalanche danger.
Correction: Kreston Rohrig is not a member of Vail Mountain Rescue. This story has been edited to correct that error.
In the wake of three avalanche deaths in Colorado last weekend, experts are urging people to be careful in the backcountry.
Two Durango-area men died Sunday in an avalanche near Ophir Pass in the San Juan Mountains. A Friday slide near Crested Butte claimed the life of a skier.
The three fatalities already represent half of the six recorded avalanche deaths during the entire 2019-20 season.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center Monday listed avalanche danger as “considerable” throughout the Colorado Rockies.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center is urging people headed to the mountains to exercise extra care in the mountains and pay special attention to the avalanche forecast.
âSince Friday three Coloradans lost their lives in avalanche accidents, and 132 avalanches were reported. One hundred and eight avalanches were triggered by people in the last weekâ said Ethan Greene, director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.Â
âMore people die in avalanches in Colorado than any other state, and this year conditions are especially dangerous.Â
âThis is not the landscape-changing event we saw in March of 2019, but it is the weakest snowpack weâve seen since 2012.
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Durango backcountry skiers who died were experienced, knowledgeable
Durango, Colorado Fri 70% chance of precipitation
Snowpack conditions presented risks not seen in years
Monday, Dec. 21, 2020 12:12 PM Updated: Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020 10:10 PM
Durango backcountry skiers who died were experienced, knowledgeable This photograph shows where Durango backcountry skiers Dr. Jeff Paffendorf, 53, and Albert Perry, 55, were caught in an avalanche Saturday. Both men died in the slide near Ophir Pass. Courtesy of Colorado Avalanche Information Center
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Two Durango backcountry skiers who died in an avalanche this past weekend were experienced and intimately familiar with the terrain, but rare and dangerous snowpack conditions presented risks not seen in years.