Avalanche Season is Upon Us Once Again

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Photo: Avalanche on South Diamond Peak (11.1.19) Small avalanches on isolated terrain features on North, Northeast, and East facing slopes remain a concern and deserve our attention when recreating in the backcountry in Colorado right now. This is especially true in the Northern Mountains and parts of the Central Mountains where more snow was received in October. Winds have moved that snow, building slabs above faceted snow in terrain features like chutes and gullies and below ridges. Here is a portion of a great public observation from yesterday documenting two avalanches on Cameron Pass in the Northern Mountains that likely occurred on Friday: “Located on the left-center face of South Diamond Peak, known as "Avy Alley" or "The Gash". A prominent and steep, NE facing gully known for heavy amounts of wind-loading . . . Skier-triggered avalanche likely occurred on 11/1/2019." While these avalanches are generally small, triggering one of these and getting caught could be highly consequential in extreme terrain or where you could be grated over rocks or shoved into trees. Remember LOW Danger is not NO Danger. You can #GetTheForecast, view the complete public ob from this post, or submit your own obs on our website Or post obs here #COAvyObs

A post shared by Colorado Avalanche Info Center (@coavalancheinfo) on Nov 4, 2019 at 6:00am PST

It’s time to be mindful in the backcountry once again. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center has released a report of one of the first recorded avalanches for the 2019/20 season.

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This incident on South Diamond Peak near Cameron Pass, Colorado is a prime example of the danger we can find lurking in our backcountry backyard already. The report indicates that a skier-triggered avalanche likely occurred on November 1st in a known avalanche path in a frequented backcountry travel area… Luckily, nobody was injured. It’s easy to forget the danger that exists early on in the season, but that’s no reason to let your guard down. Remember to always have a buddy system, carry the necessary equipment, and play it SAFE. 

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stash member Luke Dolan