A student of snow retires from decadeslong career in high country
Durango, Colorado Currently Thu Low: 29° Possible light rain (with a chance of 1–2 in. of snow) in the morning and afternoon. 65% chance of precipitation 73% chance of precipitation
Chris George brought avalanche studies to relevance
Monday, Dec. 28, 2020 5:03 AM Chris George, 82, has spent most of his life in high-elevation mountains. But about 10 years ago, health reasons caused him to move to Durango. Recently, he retired from serving as president of the Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies, capping a decadeslong career. Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
A student of snow retires from decadeslong career in high country
Courtesy National Weather Service
Up to a foot of snow is expected to fall over Monday and Tuesday as the latest storm rolls through the Colorado mountains, according to an update Monday morning from the National Weather Service.
Much of northern and western Colorado, including the Vail area, is under a winter weather advisory through 5 p.m. Tuesday, the NWS said Monday, and “total snow accumulations of 6 to 12 inches with locally higher amounts” are possible. Included in the area are the Gore and Elk mountains and the stretch of Interstate 70 from Glenwood Springs to Denver through central Colorado.
“Moderate to heavy snowfall rates will impact many roadways with icy to snowpacked conditions … especially the mountain corridors. Areas of fog, snow and blowing snow will also impact visibility and travel could be very difficult at times,” the NWS said in its weather outlook.
A second wave of snow expected Tuesday morning
Durango, Colorado Currently Thu Low: 28° Possible light rain (with a chance of 1–2 in. of snow) in the morning and afternoon. 67% chance of precipitation 80% chance of precipitation
Snow removal will cause long delays on Wolf Creek Pass By Patrick Armijo Education, business & real estate reporter
Monday, Dec. 28, 2020 9:10 AM Updated: Monday, Dec. 28, 2020 9:55 PM Avery Wickes, an employee with Barefoot Durango, shovels the sidewalk in the 800 block of Main Avenue after making a snowman she planned to name Charlie or Little Winston. A winter storm was expected to dump up to 6 inches in Durango. Shane Benjamin/Durango Herald
Avalanche season in Colorado off to a deadly start
Colorado’s avalanche conditions worsened in late December, and slides have already killed four people.
The first avalanche death of the season was a solo skier who was buried in a slide near Crested Butte in an area called Friendly Finish. A few days later, two backcountry skiers were killed in an avalanche northwest of Silverton. And just this past Saturday, a slide occurred on Berthoud Pass that claimed the fourth victim of what is quickly becoming a historically deadly avalanche season for the state. There were six avalanche deaths across the state in the whole 2019/20s20 snow season.
Sky-Hi News
Grand County Search and Rescue responded Saturday afternoon to a call of an overdue backcountry skier and found them buried in an avalanche on Berthoud Pass.
Courtesy Grand County Search and Rescue
BERTHOUD PASS A solo backcountry skier was killed in an avalanche Saturday on Berthoud Pass in nearby Grand County.
Grand County Search and Rescue responded to a call of an overdue backcountry skier at about 3 p.m. Saturday. The skier was in the area of Chimney Chute in the First Creek Drainage of Berthoud Pass, according to a report from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
Search and rescue volunteers found a recent avalanche in the area when they arrived. Crews searched the avalanche path and found the skier fully buried, according to rescue team officials.