CO: House Destroyed - House Saved - D4.5 slide

Lake City/Hinsdale 3/12/19
3 injured
Attachment 273985
(there was a house here)

https://www.outtherecolorado.com/ava...idents-inside/

House was destroyed with the sheriff and two teenage daughters injured, one seriously. Thankfully it was not worse, but what a horror to have your whole family injured and house wiped away. Local evacuations followed.
https://avalanche.state.co.us/caic/a...=713&accfm=rep

Aspen/Conundrum 3/9/19
300 year 1 mile wide D4.5 avalanche
Attachment 273986
(this house is still here)

https://www.aspentimes.com/news/loca...00-year-event/
House saved by avalanche protective structure.
https://avalanche.state.co.us/caic/o...p?obs_id=55413

Attachment 273987

D4.5 is the largest value I have seen applied to a slide in CO since the advent of the R/D scale, otherwise D4s were the largest. 1mi wide and over 3000ft of drop. (Worth noting the gap between D4 and D5 is the largest gap in the scale... huge difference in scale).

I posted in the Colorado thread, one of the daughters is my wife's student at Western. The family was lucky, one daughter was airlifted to Grand Junction. I know they lost some animals as well (dog, cows and horses).
Looking at those pictures in the Aspen article, HOLY FUCKING SHIT BATMAN!

A buddy of mine finished up his backcountry cabin in November after the first few snowstorms outside Crested Butte. Supposedly it was safe, but he went up there and apparently it's destroyed.

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Originally Posted by teleee

I posted in the Colorado thread, one of the daughters is my wife's student at Western. The family was lucky, one daughter was airlifted to Grand Junction. I know they lost some animals as well (dog, cows and horses).
Looking at those pictures in the Aspen article, HOLY FUCKING SHIT BATMAN!

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Wow!

An update:

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The Lake Fork Valley's worst slide occurred shortly after 6 am today, March 12, when a massive snowslide near sunshine falls, 12 1/2 miles south of Lake City on County Road 30 destroyed the home and barn of Hinsdale County Sheriff Justin Casey. Sheriff Casey was at home at the time of the snowslide, as were his daughters, Sarah, age 17, Kristi, age 15. Casey was able to swim through the snow to extricate his daughter Sarah.

Kristi was buried and had to be dug out by emergency personnel who arrived at the scene. All three injured were taken to Gunnison Valley Hospital for evaluation. Kristi's injuries were not as serious as initially thought. All are currently doing well.

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There is a go fund me for the family here.

There is SO MUCH insurance doesn't take care of, the pain and loss of pets/animals is just a starter. Insurance will surely let them rebuild but that won't start until spring. In the meantime that family is gonna have to live somewhere, expend huge efforts to put their life in order, deal with healing, medical, and helicopter bills... and when they go to rebuild they are going to have to put in an engineered avalanche protection structure similar to the other house in this thread. Otherwise (if it were me) I can only imagine the nightmares from trying to sleep in the new house during a high avalanche conditions.

That video is something else.

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Originally Posted by Summit

Attachment 273987

D4.5 is the largest value I have seen applied to a slide in CO since the advent of the R/D scale, otherwise D4s were the largest. 1mi wide and over 3000ft of drop. (Worth noting the gap between D4 and D5 is the largest gap in the scale... huge difference in scale).

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Holy fuck.

https://avalanche.state.co.us/caic/m...413_25369.jpeg

1 mi wide?!? wow

i hope everyone involved is healing up

Attachment 274017
Attachment 274020

Before and after (if this works). Sounds like everyone is doing well.

The engineer who built that wall said in an interview that he thought that it could have been a D5.

I know in Cordova AK FEMA helped out after homes were destroyed by avalanches. Hinsdale county may have to be the entity to initiate the FEMA applications. I am pretty sure that if FEMA is involved they will not be able to rebuild in the same location.

SWAG 3ed pg 54
Attachment 274021

TAH 3ed pg 322
Attachment 274023

I tend to think of D5 as associated with volcanism, earthquakes, and glacial collapses. But man that slide is gargantuan. @shredgnar where can I find that interview?

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Originally Posted by Summit

https://avalanche.state.co.us/caic/m...413_25369.jpeg

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damn

One of my buddies (Figure11 that used to post here) lives across the valley up Little Annie road and he went out on skis to look at the debris and said it's probably 100ft deep at the deepest and will probably be there all summer. Said it went at least 100ft up the other side of the Conundrum valley before turning downvalley and hitting that home. I think it was that home, or the one that stood there before it, that used have a teepee onsite and a guy was living in it one winter or spring when a slide ran down and killed him, in the 80's I think. The old owner was a crazy lady who'd rent out all the rooms and the teepee to people.

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Originally Posted by Summit

@shredgnar where can I find that interview?

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https://www.facebook.com/AspenTimes/...4980641495862/

That house survived the avalanche but might not survive the mudslide that will happen this summer.

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Originally Posted by Summit

https://avalanche.state.co.us/caic/m...413_25369.jpeg

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Wow. Talk about putting a house where it shouldn’t be.

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Originally Posted by AK47bp

Wow. Talk about putting a house where it shouldn’t be.

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I know some guys building a house in an avalanche path that has a similar protective structure designed by an engineer who says it would survive a direct hit by an avalanche. Sure as hell would be a crazy thing to be in the house for.

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Originally Posted by shredgnar

https://www.facebook.com/AspenTimes/...4980641495862/

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Well, I was going with CAICs listing of D4.5 and looking at pics and trying to imagine could it wipe out AT LEAST 2000ftx2000ft of old growth? Thinking about it being seemingly less than that I fell to the D4.5 CAIC listed.

On the other hand, Art has forgotten more than I will ever know and he was actually standing there, so maybe it's D5?

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Originally Posted by shredgnar

I know some guys building a house in an avalanche path that has a similar protective structure designed by an engineer who says it would survive a direct hit by an avalanche. Sure as hell would be a crazy thing to be in the house for.

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Yea. That and just have to make sure your in the house during high danger and not out dickin around in the yard

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Originally Posted by Summit

Well, I was going with CAICs listing of D4.5 and looking at pics and trying to imagine could it wipe out AT LEAST 2000ftx2000ft of old growth? Thinking about it being seemingly less than that I fell to the D4.5 CAIC listed.

On the other hand, Art has forgotten more than I will ever know and he was actually standing there, so maybe it's D5?

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Maybe he just wants "Built a wall to withstand a D5 avalanche" on his resume, and D4.5 just isn't as impressive.

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Originally Posted by teleee

Attachment 274017
Attachment 274020

Before and after (if this works). Sounds like everyone is doing well.

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Amazing how much large timber got taken out

Interview of the family in the Hillsdale slide:
https://denver.cbslocal.com/2019/04/...ide-lake-city/

wet slides in idaho take out two homes. Wonder if the homes would have fared better if the hills above had not burned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjqc...ature=youtu.be

Skied something outside Lake City yesterday. The road goes right through the avalanche debris that took out the house, it's surreal. On either side of the road there are 2x4's reduced to toothpicks, drywall, insulation, and stuff- teddy bears, pillows, paintings, etc. Can;t believe anyone survived that.