US Sees Highest Number of Avalanche Fatalities in More Than a Decade
2nd May 2021
Last modified on May 20th, 2021
Last season saw 36 deaths in the USA – the most in 11 years. The winter before the total was 23. A highly unstable snowpack was the main cause.
17 of the deaths were skiers, snowmobile accidents accounted for 8 fatalities, snowboarding 5, snowshoeing and climbing also 5.
There was 1 unclassified according to data from the Colorado Avalanche Information Centre.
The state of Colorado saw the most deaths at 12.
Alaska, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Utah, Washington and Wyoming also reported fatalities.
Loveland avalanche, Image c/o Colorado Avalanche Information Centre
We reported on the high level last winter on PlanetSKI and examined the causes:
The situation has been mirrored in the Alps to an extent with a rise in avalanche accidents and fatalities.
Avalanche deaths in Switzerland up by 50%
Why are there so many fatal avalanches in the Alps?
There were some heart-warming tales of people surviving avalanches as we also reported:
