David Pickett-Heaps, 58, of Silverthorne was on his second lap down Boss Basin south of Vail Pass when the March 7 avalanche released, according to a report by Colorado Avalanche Information Center investigators.
It was medium-sized, about 400 feet wide. It ran for only 180 vertical feet. As the slope transitioned from steep to flat, the snow piled up as deep as 9 feet. The CAIC said it was a short avalanche but it ended in “a terrain trap” that buried Pickett-Heaps in the first fatal avalanche of the 2025-26 season in Colorado.
Pickett-Heaps, who was skiing solo, had arrived at the basin from Vail Pass, riding his snowmobile to the top of a ridge south of Ptarmigan Pass. He likely skied a low-angle slope near his snowmobile before moving onto the slope that avalanched. He skied it once and skinned back to the ridge for a second run.
The CAIC report released Friday morning said the top of the northeastern-facing slope in Boss Basin was less than 30 degrees but got steeper down low. That’s where it avalanched sometime after 1:15 p.m. It buried Pickett-Heaps near the bottom of the slope. A tip of his ski was exposed in what CAIC calls a partial burial.
A family member reported Pickett-Heaps missing around 11:30 p.m. Members of the Summit County Rescue Group responded to Vail Pass and found his snowmobile at 4 a.m. A drone pilot spotted the slide at 6 a.m., with tracks leading into the debris. Two hours later a Flight for Life helicopter dropped two searchers and an avalanche rescue dog near the slide and found Pickett-Heaps, who was identified by the Eagle County coroner in the days after the slide.
CAIC avalanche experts investigate every fatal accident in the state, and this one was challenging because there were no eyewitnesses or partners who could describe the slide. Even without witnesses, the investigators were able to piece together Pickett-Heaps’ route and the events leading to the slide. Skiers saw him heading into Boss Basin shortly after 1 p.m. on March 7.
In the five ski seasons between the fall of 2020 and the spring of 2025, eight of the 33 people killed in Colorado slides were traveling solo. At least one backcountry traveler in Colorado has died in an avalanche while traveling solo every season for the past five seasons.
“We cannot know if having a partner would have changed the outcome for Skier 1,” reads the CAIC report, which does not name avalanche victims. “However, given the depth of Skier 1’s burial, lack of signs of trauma, and the condition of his equipment (skis on with toe pieces in downhill mode), there is a reasonable chance that a fast and efficient companion rescue could have produced a different outcome.”
The CAIC forecast for March 7 ranked the avalanche hazard in the region as “considerable,” which is level 3 of 5 on the danger scale, with large avalanches “likely” on wind-loaded slopes facing north.
“To manage these tricky conditions, ratchet down your terrain choices and seek lower-angle slopes in wind-sheltered terrain,” reads the forecast for that day.
Pickett-Heaps was not wearing an avalanche beacon, but he was carrying two of them in his backpack. They were not turned on. They would not have helped him without a partner, but maybe a passing group could have helped. It is easier for searchers to find a buried traveler when an avalanche beacon is transmitting.
Avalanche investigators examine each incident “in the hope of helping people avoid future avalanche accidents,” reads the report published Friday.
“All the fatal avalanche accidents we investigate are tragic events. We do our best to describe each accident to help the people involved and the community as a whole better understand them,” the investigators wrote.
Through March 8 this season, CAIC has counted 39 avalanches involving 45 backcountry travelers, 17 of whom were buried. Through the same day in the 2024-25 season, CAIC counted 62 avalanches involving 69 backcountry travelers, 24 of whom were buried.
Three backcountry travelers were killed in avalanches last season and two were killed in the 2023-24 season. This is the third season in a row where avalanche deaths are tracking well below long-term average around six.