Avalanche
A party of two backcountry tourers (one skier and one snowboarder) was traveling in the Middle Fork of Mineral Creek drainage, west of Silverton, Colorado. On Thursday, February 20, the pair was caught in an avalanche on a terrain feature locally known as The Nose. One escaped the avalanche, while the other was carried in the debris.
Staff from a nearby backcountry hut noticed the avalanche, alerted search and rescue, and traveled to the site to see if anyone needed help. They joined the backcountry skier who escaped the avalanche, and the group of three located the buried snowboarder and dug them out of the debris. Members of the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, Silverton Medical Rescue, San Juan County Search and Rescue, La Plata Search and Rescue, Silverton Avalanche School, and Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC), along with personnel and a helicopter from Silverton Mountain joined the rescue effort, but the backcountry rider did not survive, the CAIC posted on its Facebook page.
Just four hours earlier, the CAIC posted this on its Facebook page warning of the dangers in the area:
“This is an image (below) of a huge avalanche that ran on the afternoon of February 20. It’s a dramatic illustration of the current Persistent Slab avalanche problem across many of Colorado’s mountains right now, from the San Juan Mountains to the Front Range. An avalanche could break deep and spread across multiple terrain features. Many people might travel on the slope without triggering a slide. Then someone finds the wrong spot and the whole slope rips out. We often describe this as a low feedback situation–you may not have obvious signs of instability like cracking or whumpfing, and many people could travel across the slope–with high consequences. A lack of feedback can give you a false sense of security. The solution is simple. Dial back your plans. Make conservative terrain choices. Get the current forecast for where you are going at colorado.gov/avalanche, the CAIC posted on its Facebook page.”
The CAIC also posted this on Wednesday, February 19:
“Avalanches in Colorado’s central and northern mountain ranges could be very large and break across multiple terrain features. This image (above), taken Wednesday morning, is just one of the many very large (D3) avalanches recorded over the past week. You don’t want to tangle with monsters like this. Choosing to recreate on lower-angled slopes well away from steeper, connected terrain will increase your safety and help you avoid a deadly avalanche. Avalanche danger will change on Thursday and Friday as new snow piles up.”
The forecast for the zone at the time was 2/5 moderate avalanche danger. According to OpenSnow, the area had seen four inches of snow in the previous 72 hours.
“You could trigger an avalanche on steep slopes where recent snow has settled or drifted into a cohesive slab above weaker snow. The most dangerous slopes are at upper elevations where winds have drifted snow into deeper cohesive slabs. Look for and avoid trigger points near rock outcroppings, below cliff bands, or on steep convex rolls.
If you observe cracking or collapsing, reevaluate your plan and move to a lower angle or lower elevation slope. Sticking to slopes less than about 35 degrees in steepness will reduce your risk of triggering an avalanche.”
– CAIC forecast for Thursday, February 20
Our deepest condolences go out to the family, friends, and community of the people involved in this tragic accident. CAIC staff will visit the site on Friday. We’ll update this report as more information becomes available and publish a final report in a week.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center posted on its Facebook Page:
“On February 20, a backcountry snowboarder was caught and killed in an avalanche on a terrain feature locally known as The Nose in the Middle Fork of Mineral Creek drainage, west of the town of Silverton. The avalanche occurred near treeline on a northeast-facing slope in the San Juan Mountains. You can read the preliminary accident report at https://ow.ly/wVf150V3ZcF.
We will visit the site tomorrow and update that report as we collect more information. Our deepest condolences to the deceased rider’s family, friends, and community.”
This is the second avalanche fatality in Colorado this season, the 12th in the US, and the 13th in North America.
For more information, visit the CAIC’s website.
the traffic in there during typically bad mid winter avalanche conditions is troubling. RIP.