SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) – A backcountry skier was killed after getting caught in an avalanche over the weekend.
According to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC), the victim was reported missing from the Boss Basin area near Vail Pass Saturday night. Several agencies responded to the search and discovered there had been an avalanche in the area the missing person was believed to have been in. Both ski and snowmobile tracks were seen heading into the avalanche site.
“At sunrise on March 8, supported by Flight For Life, they found the missing person deceased in the avalanche debris,” CAIC said.
This is the first deadly avalanche of the season.
“It’s unusual for us to make it into mid-March without any avalanche fatality. So we are grateful that that number isn’t higher. But this avalanche fatality, like all of them, does hit home pretty, pretty hard for us as avalanche forecasters. Our job is to promote and provide information for public safety, so anytime that goes awry, we take it hard,” CAIC Deputy Director Brian Lazar told 11 News sister station CBS Denver.
According to CAIC, conditions have become more dangerous in the backcountry since the most recent storm, which dumped feet of much-needed snow in the Colorado mountains. Along with the fatal avalanche, the agency said there have been several close calls.
“Anytime we have a break in the snowfall, or we have these long dry periods or droughts, we develop weak layers on the surface of the snow pack. Then those weak layers get buried by subsequent snowfall, like what happened starting late last week, and those weak layers are so fragile because of how long our drought periods have been that they cannot handle much of a load at all, and so they’re failing every time we load them. And that’s exactly what happened this weekend,” Lazar said.
CAIC offered advice to anyone planning to head out into mountains during the remainder of the season.
“These conditions are tricky. You may be able to travel on a slope multiple times before it slides, and there may be no obvious warning signs before triggering a very large avalanche. You might trigger one from below, or a distance away. Make conservative terrain choices and enjoy the new snow on lower-angle slopes that aren’t connected to steeper terrain above,” CAIC said in a social media post Sunday night.
Meanwhile, the agency extended its sympathies to the victim’s loved ones.
“We offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the skier,” the agency said.
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