Snow conditions across a broad swath of the central Colorado Rockies mean high avalanche danger. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center has issued an avalanche watch from Monday overnight until 8:00 a.m. Tuesday morning for the following areas:
CDOT avalanche work on Monarch Pass in winter, 2019-20. Photo courtesy of CDOT.
The Steamboat and Flat Tops, Front Range, Vail and Summit County, Sawatch, Aspen, Gunnison, North and South San Juan, and Sangre de Cristo zones.
With the strong storm hitting Colorado, the new snow will fall on a very weak snowpack. The avalanche danger continued to rise Monday afternoon and will continue into Tuesday, Dec. 29. By Tuesday, it will be easy to trigger large, dangerous avalanches, and some will release naturally.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center is cautioning anyone going back country, or driving on avalanche-prone road areas to pay attention to changing conditions and increasing avalanche danger Monday night and on Tuesday.
Backcountry skiers have been killed in avalanches the past few weeks. A backcountry skier was killed in an avalanche off Berthoud Pass on Dec. 26, and Saturday December 19, two backcountry skiers were caught, buried, and killed in an avalanche in the North San Juan Zone. The skiers were in an area locally known as the Battleship, southeast of Ophir Pass.
https://avalanche.state.co.us/
Recent Comments