{"id":36462,"date":"2023-01-04T10:07:30","date_gmt":"2023-01-04T17:07:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-sees-more-avalanche-deaths-than-any-other-state-a-training-course-at-this-mountain-park-hopes-to-change-that\/"},"modified":"2023-01-04T17:07:30","modified_gmt":"2023-01-04T17:07:30","slug":"colorado-sees-more-avalanche-deaths-than-any-other-state-a-training-course-at-this-mountain-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-sees-more-avalanche-deaths-than-any-other-state-a-training-course-at-this-mountain-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado sees more avalanche deaths than any other state. A training course at this mountain park hopes to change that"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A sign at Loveland Pass on Hwy. 6 warns backcountry travelers of avalanche control efforts on Nov. 2021. (Hart Van Denburg\/CPR News)<\/span>Hart Van Denburg\/CPR News<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Colorado avalanches kill six people on average each winter. The death toll doubled to 12 in the winter of 2020-2021 \u2013 tying the modern-day state record. And Colorado sees more avalanche deaths than any other state.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where the avalanche beacon training park comes in.<\/p>\n

While carrying avalanche safety equipment has become the norm for many backcountry skiers and other recreators, remembering how to use it in an emergency properly is another skill entirely.<\/p>\n

So where can one practice for the unthinkable?<\/p>\n

At a park just outside of Minturn, now open for its third season, there are eight transmitters that people can practice finding with their beacons.<\/p>\n

David Boyd, with the White River National Forest, explained that his agency encourages everyone to take an avalanche training course. But after your class \u201cyou might never have a chance to practice until you\u2019re in the real situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The park gives people a chance \u201cjust to make sure your skills are really sound,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After decades of blasts, CDOT is planning to wind down the use of World War II-era guns for avalanche control<\/p>\n

While these kinds of parks have existed in some ski areas for years, the fact that this one is both public and free sets it apart.<\/p>\n

Developed in a partnership between the U.S. Forest Service and Colorado Avalanche Information Center, the park is a self-guided experience, with eight transmitters attached to plywood and buried in snow. Using a small control panel, people can turn the transmitters on and off as they practice using their locator beacon to find the signals. Then, they can use their probe to pinpoint the exact locations and dig them up with their shovel.<\/p>\n

Boyd said the park aims to get people so comfortable with these steps that they\u2019re already \u201cmuscle memory\u201d if someone does encounter an avalanche.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to find someone pretty quickly,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd you don\u2019t want to be trying to remember how to use your beacon when that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last winter, many of the people who died were snowshoers, who likely didn\u2019t think they were putting themselves in danger.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just beginners that get caught or killed in an avalanche,\u201d Boyd said. \u201cA lot of times, it\u2019s experienced people, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before heading into the backcountry, he recommends always checking the forecast with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The avalanche beacon training park is a short climb up the slope at the Mountain Meadow Trailhead, next to the Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger Station.<\/p>\n

To read more stories from Colorado Public Radio, visit www.cpr.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

a park just outside of Minturn, now open for its third season, there are eight transmitters that people can practice finding with their beacons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[377,976,1362],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-36462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-avalanche-landslide","tag-outdoor-recreation","tag-southwest-life"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36462"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=36462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}