Avalanche forecasting has come a long way since the 1950s, when forecasters relied solely on weather to predict when and where snow might slide. But it still requires scientists skiing and digging into the snowpack. That’s changing as satellites, aircraft-mounted sensors and ground-based remote monitoring fast-track the evolution of snow science, giving experts comprehensive insight […]
avalanche deaths
Posted inColoradans, Environment, News, Outdoors
Avalanche danger remains high in the West, 32 deaths confirmed this season
By Pat Graham, The Associated Press Snowboarder Maurice Kervin glided into the snow along the steep terrain in the Colorado backcountry like he’s done so many times. There was no warning for what happened next as he glanced over his shoulder: a rush of snow swiftly heading his way. Caught in an avalanche last month, […]
Posted inColoradans, News, Outdoors
Snowmobiler killed in avalanche near Colorado’s Rollins Pass was pinned beneath sled
The father and son had throttled their snowmobiles up the steep, east-facing slope below Mount Epworth several times that Sunday afternoon. Dad — 58-year-old Michael “Tony” Westall — went for a final charge up the hill. But instead of turning his machine around the high-point of his arc, he kept going across the hill. His […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Avalanche-trained dog locates body of snowmobiler killed in massive northern Colorado slide
Search and rescue teams on Wednesday used an avalanche-search dog to find the body of a snowmobiler buried in a large slide in the Never Summer Mountains of northern Colorado. His death brings the total number of people killed in avalanches in Colorado so far this season to 11, equal to the number who died […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Snowboarder killed Sunday in backcountry avalanche near Loveland Ski Area is identified
Authorities have identified one of two men who were killed in separate avalanches in Colorado on Sunday. The Clear Creek County Coroner’s Office says 57-year-old David Heide of Saint Mary’s died while skiing alone Sunday morning in the Mount Trelease area north of Loveland Pass, about 57 miles west of Denver. The county sheriff’s office […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Snowboarder, snowmobiler killed in two separate Colorado avalanches on Sunday
The death toll from avalanches in Colorado climbed to 10 on Sunday. A snowboarder touring solo near Mount Trelease north of Loveland Pass was buried in a very big slide around 9:30 a.m. Sunday and a snowmobiler was caught in a slide west of Rollins Pass later in the day. Alpine Rescue Team rescuers responded […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors, Silverton Avalanche
MAP: Colorado avalanches have killed at least 11 people during the 2020-21 winter season
At least 11 people have been killed in Colorado avalanches during the 2020-2021 snow season. Avalanche forecasters and search and rescue crews were worried that this year would be especially deadly because of the coronavirus pandemic and a weak snowpack. The season is Colorado’s deadliest since the record-setting 2012-2013 snow year when 11 people died […]
Posted inNews
Communication challenges in “terrain trap” contributed to deaths of three skiers in Colorado avalanche, report says
Communication challenges in a large group and a “terrain trap” were contributing factors in the deadliest avalanche in the state since 2013, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center’s report on the massive slide that killed three men near Ophir Pass in the San Juans on Feb. 1. A skier who was buried but survived […]
Posted inNews
Remembering Adam Palmer: A real-life mountain unicorn with an infectious personality
Unicorns are the mythical creatures woven into folklore from ancient Greek times through European medieval periods, and even today as a basis for internet memes and emo T-shirts. But maybe they’re not so mythical. Perhaps the unicorn has evolved over the ages and manifests in our lives today. After careful consideration, I have come to […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Skier killed in East Vail avalanche identified as longtime local John Kuo
The Eagle County Coroner’s Office identified the skier killed in Thursday’s avalanche in East Vail as John Kuo, a longtime Vail local and gifted skier known among friends as “Johnny Tsunami.” Kuo skied East Vail often and left the backcountry access gate atop Vail’s Siberia Bowl midday Thursday. The avalanche on the eastern flank of […]