Increasing Number of US Deaths in the Back Country

24th February 2025

In the last decade at least 234 people in the USA have been killed by avalanches.

The vast majority in the backcountry, according to data compiled by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center and the U.S. Forest Service.

Some victims were hikers and snowmobilers, but more than half were skiers.

Jack Dolan, fromthe Los Angeles Times, says that’s a shocking number given how small the community of hardcore backcountry skiers is.