It’s Snowing in Colorado, and There Are Already Avalanches

It’s not even winter and two avalanche accidents have already been reported in the mountains of Colorado. Last Friday, a skier was caught in a slab avalanche on Loveland Pass and was able to ski to safety. On Monday, a climber was swept over cliffs on South Arapaho Peak, near Boulder, by an avalanche and brought himself to safety. TGR takes safety as its utmost priority, and would like to remind all skiers, riders, climbers, and mountain travelers that slides can happen as soon as there is snow. Remember, get educated, get the proper gear and know how to use it, and be smart in the backcountry every single time.

RELATED: Refresh Your Backcountry and Safety Knowledge With TGR’s Safety Week

According to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC), the accident on Monday involved a mountaineer who provided the following details:

The slide that carried a mountaineer over cliffs on Colorado's South Arapaho peak. CAIC photo.

A hiker left from the 4th of July trail head. He hiked up the Arapaho Pass and Arapaho Glacier Trails to about 11,500 feet. At that elevation recent snow became too deep to make progress and he decided to descend. To avoid deeper drifts of snow, the hiker moved off trail and descended down a rocky, convex slope. At about 10:30 the hiker postholed through about four feet of drifted snow. He watched the avalanche fracture above and to the east of him. The majority of the avalanche ran through a gully to the east of the hiker. The avalanche swept him over several cliffs 10 to 15 feet high. He was carried about 150 vertical feet and injured. He hiked out and drove himself to a hospital and said he suffered "cuts, bruises, and a fractured pelvis." The hiker described the maximum crown depth as three to four feet. The slab was drifted snow from a storm on October 14, and the bed surface from an earlier storm.

"Avy season hit me by surprise today," the hiker said.

The skier who triggered a slide Friday on Loveland Pass provided a short description on CAIC and the following video:

Roughly a 12-24" crown, 200-300ft across at the ridgeline. Very fast traveling avalanche above the rocks. Deep debris field of about 5-10 feet in a gully. Nobody caught. I was able to pull myself out the side at the top.

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stash member Max Ritter

I manage digital content here at TGR, run our gear testing program, and am stoked to be living the dream in the Tetons.