Avalanches Warnings Across US Ski Areas

9th December 2022

Last modified on December 11th, 2022

Heavy snow is falling with increased danger of avalanche. There have been 600 recorded avalanches in Colorado alone this winter.

Heavy snowfall combined with strong winds is overloading a weak snow layer near the bottom of the snowpack across much of the Colorado Rockies.

“Significant new snow, in some places over 36 inches, has fallen on a weeks-old snow layer. The top layer of the older snow is hard and slick,” said CNN meteorologist, Chad Myers.

“The new snow can’t attach to it and will slide off creating the avalanche danger.”

“You can expect to easily trigger a large and dangerous avalanche on steep northerly and easterly-facing slopes at all elevations,” said the Colorado Avalanche Information Centre, CAIC.

CAIC said that there has been more avalanches up to this point point in the year compared to the previous 12 winters.

Colorado Avalanche Information Centre

In the ski resort of Steamboat in Colorado a member of the avalanche mitigation team was caught and buried in an avalanche slide in a closed section of terrain last Tuesday.

Other members of the avalanche team were able to locate and dig out the ski patroller.

The avalanche risk at the tie was described as ‘high’ – Level 4 on a scale of 5.

The resort is partially open, but some people have been ducking under ropes to access the fresh snow.

“We have had some people duck ropes into areas where we’re working and we have had to pull their passes because that creates a really risky, unsafe situation,”said the director of communications for Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp, Loryn Duke, to local media.

“Always obeying rope closures is important, especially as we do this mitigation work.”

ABC News’ Mola Lenghi reports on the avalanche warnings in effect for the next few days.

In Bozeman in Montana two more skiers were caught in avalanches in the Bridger Range this week.

They were uninjured.

It is the third avalanche reported in the Bridger Range this season, and avalanche danger remains ‘considerable’ at Level 3.

On PlanetSKI we have reported on the heavy early season snow in North America:

In Utah there have been three more storms over the past week.

Most mountain ranges remain in ‘considerable’ avalanche danger – Level 3.

The Utah Avalanche Center states that most avalanche occur on slopes between 30 & 50 degrees.

It advises people to steer clear of any slopes over 30 degrees after fresh snow.

“It’s pretty easy to stay safe by making a few decisions like choosing terrain that’s maybe a lower angle,” said a spokesperson from the Utah Avalanche Centre.

“Sometimes it just means you don’t go into the backcountry that day because it is too dangerous. So you go into one of the ski resorts instead.”

As well as an avalanche, transceiver and probe the Centre advises people bring: