{"id":44011,"date":"2021-10-27T12:10:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-27T18:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorados-2020-21-avalanche-season-was-tied-for-deadliest-its-helping-forecasters-hone-warnings\/"},"modified":"2021-10-27T18:10:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-27T18:10:00","slug":"colorados-2020-21-avalanche-season-was-tied-for-deadliest-its-helping-forecasters-hone-warnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorados-2020-21-avalanche-season-was-tied-for-deadliest-its-helping-forecasters-hone-warnings\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado\u2019s 2020-21 avalanche season was tied for deadliest. It\u2019s helping forecasters hone warnings."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Crested
Crested Butte Avalanche Center Outreach director and part time forecaster Ian Havlick stands at the base of an avalanche that broke loose above treeline in the Ruby Mountain range. (Courtesy of Crested Butte Avalanche Center)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A once-in-a-decade layer of rotten snow in the mountains combined with unprecedented traffic in the backcountry made the 2020-21 avalanche season the deadliest in many years.<\/p>\n

The 37 deaths across the country delivered lessons to avalanche forecasters and researchers, especially in Colorado, where 12 men were killed, matching a painful high mark set in the winter of 1992-93.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the accidents we saw last year were people going to the places where they felt like an avalanche would not happen,\u201d said Ethan Greene, executive director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. \u201cBut if you looked at the terrain from an Avalanche 101 perspective, these were slopes that were steep enough to slide, and with the snowpack we had last year, they were much more dangerous than they were in previous years.\u201d<\/p>\n

As those avalanche educators and forecasters distill a season many would prefer to forget, they\u2019re learning lessons that can help them in their overarching mission to raise awareness about avalanche risks in the snowy backcountry.<\/p>\n

More than 900 online attendees of the 20th annual Colorado Avalanche Information Center\u2019s annual Snow and Avalanche Workshop gathered earlier this month to hear from researchers who analyzed last season\u2019s accidents for signs or lessons that could help backcountry travelers avoid avalanches.<\/p>\n

The weak layer of rotten, sugary October snow promised to shed slabs of new snow in December and January last winter. The acute threat of avalanches on that weak layer coincided with a boom in backcountry travel. Sales of touring skis and avalanche equipment exploded. Traffic to avalanche forecasting websites doubled.<\/p>\n

When snow started piling up in late January, avalanche forecasters across the West started to ramp up aggressive warnings.<\/p>\n

In Colorado, it was the most dangerous snowpack in a decade. In Idaho, it was the worst in 20 years, said Karl Birkeland, director of the U.S. Forest Service National Avalanche Center in Montana.<\/p>\n

In one six-day period in the first week of February, 10 people were killed in six avalanches in five states.<\/p>\n

As the avalanche hazard increased, forecasters worried that hordes of newcomers would be involved in slides.<\/p>\n

But that didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

\"The
The median age of the 37 skiers, snowmobilers and climbers killed in U.S. avalanches in 2020-21 was 44, up from a long-term average of 34. (Courtesy of Forest Service National Avalanche Center)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The ages of people killed in U.S. avalanches skewed older in 2020-21, with a median age of 44. In Colorado, the median age was 52. The median age of U.S. avalanche victims from 1990 to 2018 was 34. And the skiers, snowmobilers and climbers killed in 2020-21 tended to have experience.<\/p>\n

The trend toward more experienced skiers mirrored a Colorado Avalanche Information Center study from the previous season, which showed a large number of veteran backcountry travelers involved in avalanches after ski resorts closed because of the pandemic in mid-March 2020.<\/p>\n

Compared to previous decades of accidents, the 2020-21 season had a similar mix of solo travelers and groups as well as motorized and non-motorized backcountry travelers caught or killed in slides.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we look at all these accidents, what really stands out is a tendency to underestimate the terrain given the snowpack conditions,\u201d said Birkeland, who read a statement from a skier whose partner was killed in a slide in an area they had skied many times before.<\/p>\n

The skier, who wanted to share his belief that the pandemic had an impact on his decision-making that day, said he was exhausted from 10 months of constant stress from family, finances, school closures and lack of contact with friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result, my typical training, motivation and mental reflection has been much less than normal this fall and winter,\u201d the statement shared by Birkeland said.<\/p>\n

\"Avalanche
Avalanche fatalties spiked in late January and early February as new snow stressed a weak layer across the Western U.S. (Courtesy of U.S. Forest Service National Avalanche Center)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Birkeland said a lot of educators and forecasters in the avalanche industry have been focused in recent years on younger and first-time backcountry skiers. The Know Before You Go avalanche safety program targets younger backcountry travelers who may be more inclined to take risks. But the 2020-21 avalanche victims were older and they had perhaps taken avalanche education classes many years ago.<\/p>\n

Birkeland suggested a marketing program that targets those more veteran travelers with messages urging them to refresh their education \u201cbecause there\u2019s a lot of new information out here for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a challenge,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are going to have to see if this is sort of an anomalous couple years where we have older avalanche victims or it becomes more of a pattern for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Almost a third of the country\u2019s avalanche deaths occurred in Colorado. Researchers had to dig back into archives from the early 1900s, when avalanches blasted through mining camps, to find a season where more than 12 people were killed in slides.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center\u2019s Spencer Logan broke down each of the state\u2019s accidents, looking for insight into how avalanche forecasters might better educate and warn backcountry travelers.<\/p>\n

After four skiers were killed in three slides in Colorado in December, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center crafted a series of public service announcements, urging backcountry travelers to rethink approaches and lines in avalanche terrain.<\/p>\n

Then the snow let up in January and avalanche activity ebbed. After three experienced skiers from Eagle were killed in a slide near Ophir Pass on Feb. 1 and a Vail skier was killed Feb. 4 in East Vail, the center again launched another messaging campaign, warning travelers of a once-in-a-decade hazardous snowpack.<\/p>\n

\"Looking
Looking down the gully where three Eagle County men were killed in an avalanche Feb. 1 near Ophir Pass. (Courtesy of Colorado Avalanche Information Center)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Crested
Crested Butte\u2019s beloved Jeff Schneider was killed in an avalanche on the \u201cFriendly Finish\u201d slope of the Anthracites near Irwin on Friday, Dec. 18. (Courtesy of Colorado Avalanche Information Center)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cThe snowpack is exceptionally weak and we haven\u2019t seen it this bad since 2012,\u201d CAIC director Greene said in the Feb. 12 video update posted online. \u201cSo if you\u2019ve been recreating in the Colorado backcountry for 20 years, this may be the second time that you\u2019ve seen these conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the busy Presidents Day weekend approached with fresh snow and escalating avalanche hazards, even Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Feb. 11 issued a warning of \u201cextremely dangerous\u201d backcountry conditions.<\/p>\n

On Feb. 14, a solo snowboarder was killed while ascending a popular line near Loveland Pass and a snowmobiler was buried and died in an avalanche near Rollins Pass. Then another snowmobiler was killed Feb. 16 in a slide near Rand.<\/p>\n

Again CAIC and the Friends of CAIC group increased efforts to reach more backcountry travelers. They ran social media videos and even rented billboard space on the Front Range, with the message: \u201cAvalanches kill. Don\u2019t become a victim. Get the forecast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The Feb. 14 avalanche on Mount Trelease buried and killed a snowboarder who was touring alone. Rescuers spotted a deployed avalanche airbag backpack in the debris. (Courtesy of Colorado Avalanche Information Center)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The CAIC logged a record number of avalanches, incidents and fatalities last winter. The center\u2019s forecasters also noted crowded trailheads and more crowds in the backcountry, which was expected as resorts used reservation systems to limit crowding during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Logan said it was impossible to draw a line between increased use in the backcountry and avalanche deaths because it\u2019s impossible to count how many people go into the backcountry every season. But he said crowding and backcountry skiers going deeper into the mountains in search of powder \u201cplayed an indirect factor\u201d in the state\u2019s avalanche involvements last winter.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverlying, or behind all these changes in uses was COVID,\u201d Logan said. \u201cAgain, there is not a straight line to draw, but factors like decision fatigue, risk tolerance and crowding in the backcountry are easy to ponder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Logan said the CAIC did a commendable job of anticipating the avalanche danger and innovating new strategies for sharing hazard messages.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our information and efforts prevented us from having an even more tragic winter,\u201d Logan said.<\/p>\n

Maybe the center won\u2019t need social media videos and roadside billboards every season, Logan said, \u201cbut I don\u2019t see us losing these alternative avenues of communication or stopping finding new ways to reach people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The avalanche center got a financial boost from lawmakers this year. Legislation that transfers $25 million a year from the general fund to support the Department of Natural Resources directed $750,000 toward the center for \u201cbackcountry avalanche safety programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Colorado
Colorado Search and Rescue members from across Colorado practice during the avalanche media event March 11, 2021, on Vail Pass. (Hugh Carey\/Special to The Colorado Sun)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe really want to look at ramping things up,\u201d said Dan Gibbs, the director of Colorado\u2019s Department of Natural Resources. \u201cWe also want to look at partnering with local governments this year. There\u2019s just a tremendous need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greene said his team will be ready to craft widespread warnings about specific dangers, just as they did last year. And they are working to refine both the content and marketing of those warnings. He is working with the international avalanche education community about how to deliver information \u201cin a personal way that people can use it and apply it to the slopes where they want to travel.\u201d<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s a common theme Greene sees in his messaging last winter, it\u2019s asking skiers \u201cto take a step back and think about things in a very simple way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of what we talked about last year was really about returning to the fundamentals of avalanche safety, asking people to understand the snowpack and understand the terrain,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are always places to go in the winter and stay out of avalanche terrain. We will be saying that again this year as we find new ways to provide information.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

37 backcountry travelers last winter in U.S., including 12 in Colorado<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[377,233,28,4409],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-44011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-avalanche-landslide","tag-coloradosun-com","tag-headlines","tag-outdoors-more-or-less"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44011","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=44011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44011"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=44011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}