Avalanche
Dashcam footage of the second avalanche to hit I70 near Copper Mountain, CO has emerged, and this second one DID reach the Interstate and DID bury cars. Shaune Golemon was driving with his family on I-70 at about 5 pm when the slide came down and snow covered his car and others in front of him. He captured the above dramatic dashcam video of it.
Both happened between Copper Mountain and Frisco in an area known as Officer’s Gulch. Interstate 70 was closed down for several hours Sunday afternoon after the second slide covered the highway.
The footage follows a video that emerged on Sunday evening of an enormous, naturally occurring avalanche barrelling down the mountainside towards I70 . That avalanche did not reach the interstate, just a light dusting of snow reached the road but did not cover it substantially.
Following the second slide, some drivers ended up stranded and had to try to dig their way out, but nobody was injured. Colin Rafferty’s pickup truck got pushed into the ditch by one of the snow slides.
“First it was just a big cloud coming down the mountain, then it just turned totally white. Then it covered the windshield with a couple of inches of snow, so the windshield wipers wouldn’t move it,” he told CBS4.
Rafferty saw one avalanche come down up ahead, then a second one came sending snow onto the road and right into his vehicle.
“It got too deep over on the side so then when I started going I just slid right down,” he said.
CDOT said Monday it has been at least 30 years since an avalanche has made it down to the highway in that area. The threat of more avalanches continues in Colorado’s high country. Drivers were being advised to be prepared for more possible highway closures.
