ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, Colo. — Video shared by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center showed a human-triggered avalanche that caught a group of riders on Saturday. They survived, although one suffered a dislocated shoulder catching himself on a tree.
Here is part of the Facebook post explaining what happened.
“This video captures an incident that happened today in Haiyaha Couloir in Rocky Mountain National Park. Two riders in a group of three were caught and carried in an avalanche. The group reported ski cutting the upper chute, which triggered a Wind Slab avalanche that cleared part of the slope. When a skier entered the untouched lower slope, it fractured above him with an 8–14” crown. He was caught, carried, briefly buried, and dislocated his shoulder while grabbing a tree. As partners moved to help, another rider was caught in a slide. Thankfully, the group was able to address the injury and safely exit the area.
The group shared their lessons learned and mistakes in their field report. (You can find it in the Field Reports section at colorado.gov/avalanche.) We all benefit when people share information about their incidents so that we can learn from them. Many factors contribute to avalanche accidents, and there are key takeaways we can all glean from reading these reports and studying those factors. We ALL make mistakes. Please keep this in mind and be respectful in your comments.”