Two people died in slides in December and avalanche risk remains “considerable” this week after recent storms in Colorado high country.
Colorado Avalanche Information Center
Posted inOpinion Columns
Zornio: Colorado has the nation’s most deadly avalanche terrain. Winter recreators should know about CAIC.
A gap in knowledge, increased backcountry use and climate change are increasing avalanche risks for recreationists
Posted inColoradans, News, Outdoors, Outsider
How a Breckenridge avalanche 35 years ago changed the trajectory of Colorado skiing
BRECKENRIDGE – It was sunny and cold on Feb. 18, 1987. Ski patroller Mary Logan remembers the snow squeaking beneath her skis as she rode the T-bar with patrol director Kevin Ahern. They were watching two skiers atop Peak 7 in the Tenmile Range, just beyond the Breckenridge ski area boundary. They watched helplessly as […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors, Outsider
Following a historic Colorado avalanche season, pros and entrepreneurs create new tools for safer backcountry travel
Responding to one of the worst avalanche seasons on record, a growing number of backcountry skiers are developing tools to help fellow adventurers move more safely through the snowy mountains. The innovation feels especially urgent after last season, when 37 skiers, climbers and snowmobilers were killed in avalanches nationwide, including 12 in Colorado. The 2021-22 […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Two snowshoers, dog killed in backcountry avalanche near Breckenridge
Two people snowshoeing with their dog were killed Saturday in a large avalanche near Breckenridge. The dog also died in the slide. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center said the avalanche happened on Hoosier Pass, which is just south of Breckenridge off Colorado 9. “The avalanche broke about 400 feet wide ran about 250 vertical feet […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Avalanche danger is climbing across Colorado’s high country
Heavy snowstorms that started last week have ratcheted up the avalanche danger in the Colorado mountains, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center warned. Nearly all of the Colorado high country was under “considerable” avalanche danger Monday, with only the Sangre de Cristo and Culebra mountain ranges on the eastern side of the San Luis Valley at […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors, Outsider
Family of Colorado avalanche victim drops lawsuit against school and guide, targets maker of air bag
The family of Peter Marshall, who was killed in an avalanche near Red Mountain Pass as he participated in an avalanche safety class with the Silverton Avalanche School, has dropped its lawsuit against the venerable school. But the family of the 40-year-old Longmont skier is suing K2 Sports and its company Backcountry Access, which makes […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors, Outsider
Colorado’s 2020-21 avalanche season was tied for the deadliest. It’s helping forecasters hone warnings and outreach.
A once-in-a-decade layer of rotten snow in the mountains combined with unprecedented traffic in the backcountry made the 2020-21 avalanche season the deadliest in many years. The 37 deaths across the country — each a tragedy that will resonate for lifetimes — delivered lessons to avalanche forecasters and researchers, especially in Colorado, where 12 men […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Colorado snowboarders charged in backcountry avalanche settle criminal case, won’t have to pay $168,000 in restitution
Backcountry snowboarders Evan Hannibal and Tyler Dewitt will not have to pay $168,000 for damage that resulted when an avalanche they reported buried a service road above Interstate 70 in March 2020. The two also were facing misdemeanor charges related to the March 25 slide that damaged avalanche mitigation devices above the west portal of […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Newsletters, Outdoors, Outsider
Lack of jurors prompts mistrial in Colorado case against snowboarders who triggered avalanche above I-70
Summit County Judge Ed Casias sent out 40 summonses to local residents for Thursday’s docket. Only a fraction showed up — not enough to help decide one of the more interesting high-country cases in years. After dismissing some potential jurors for cause — like a vaccine shot and a big test for a college student […]