With avalanches sweeping away six snow riders Sunday and killing a skier last week, forecasters fear the weak snow caused by below-average snowpack could mean deadly conditions in the coming months for the backcountry in Utah and Colorado.
As of Sunday, 47 people had been caught in backcountry avalanches in Colorado, including the six on Valentine's Day, said Spencer Logan with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
No one was killed in Sunday's slides.
"Most avalanche professionals are very surprised that we've had only two fatalities in Colorado" this winter, said Logan, an avalanche forecaster. "We've had some very dramatic close calls."
Utah has had several avalanche fatalities and even more close calls this winter, with a large number of avalanches reported Sunday.
Craig Olsen, co-owner of Diamond Peaks Heli-Ski Adventures in Ogden Valley, said they have been very cautious about skiing in backcountry areas because of the recent avalanche warnings.
"We're playing it real safe. We're respecting Mother Nature and the mountains and avoiding those areas that are steep."
He said he has seen slides everywhere in the mountains this year, not just backcountry and steep areas.
"It's one of those years where that October snow and nothing in between can make for a dangerous snowpack that will probably persist through the season," Olsen said.
"People just really need to give it respect and be careful out there. They definitely should pay attention to the warnings."
Bruce Tremper, director of the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center, said the 26 avalanches reported Sunday were the most in recent memory.
A few people said they had to hold onto trees to avoid being swept away.
"A lot of people have not seen this before. They are used to going out and raging on the slopes a couple of days after a storm, but this year, it's a whole different animal," Tremper said.
Colorado averages about 65 people caught in avalanches each year, with about five or six fatalities. In Utah each year, about 20 people are caught in avalanches, with about four of those resulting in death.
In Colorado, Keith McCulloch, of Buena Vista, broke his leg Sunday when an avalanche slammed him into a tree on Mount Yeckel, about 15 miles northwest of Aspen. Three other skiing companions were also swept away by the avalanche but managed to ski out for help.
About 75 miles north, two snowboarders escaped injury after triggering an avalanche along U.S. 6 near Loveland Pass. Both left the area before emergency crews arrived.
On Thursday, Kellen Robert Sams, 27, of Manitou Springs, died when a 150-foot-wide slab of snow slid 500 feet down a slope in the San Juan Mountains near Ridgway in southwest Colorado. He tried to ride out the avalanche but struck a tree.
Another man caught in the slide survived.
Even small slides can be deadly.
In January, 19-year-old Jasper "Jaz" McGrath, of Grand Marais, Minn., died in an avalanche in the backcountry near Vail Mountain when a 2-foot-deep, 24-foot-wide slab of snow broke off the slope and slid about 100 feet.
Logan said several close calls have been reported by backcountry skiers near Vail and Telluride.
Forecasters say, unlike typical years when large storms dump mounds of snow that bind to mountainsides, a series of smaller storms has left thin layers of snow that barely cling to the one below.
When these weak layers of snow get crusted in frost, they form small slabs that slide off even on relatively gentle slopes.
Tremper and Logan said those exploring the backcountry should travel with companions and be equipped with avalanche beacons, a shovel and a probe.
"These are like seat belts," Logan said. "They only help lessen the consequences of getting caught in an avalanche."
Standard-Examiner reporter Jessica Miller contributed to this article.
Comments