The Colorado Department of Transportation has completed installing a remote avalanche control system on Lizard Head Pass, Colorado 145. Wyssen Avalanche Control of Switzerland’s WAC.3 system will replace aging technology and other methods CDOT currently uses.
Several natural and human-triggered avalanches have been reported across Colorado this week, including one near Vail Pass on Thursday.
The Vail Pass avalanche broke at the ground. Although it was relatively small it could have injured someone if they had been caught in it. The avalanche was triggered by skiers.
Authorities issued a snow avalanche warning for higher reaches in the division.
Experts are blaming deforestation for a growing avalanche threat because once a mountain slope is bereft of its tree cover there is nothing to prevent or stop an avalanche.
Major Hugh Lindsay was skiing off-piste at the Swiss resort of Klosters in 1988 with a group including senior royals when an avalanche disaster struck.
After the Crown episode entitled "Avalanche" was made available for streaming last week, Lindsay’s widow, Sarah Horsley, has revealed she had asked Netflix not to adapt the disaster for television.
Austrian mountain rescuers have dubbed the survival of a man in his twenties a miracle after an avalanche buried him in snow for five hours.
While the number of backcountry beginners involved in snow avalanches stayed similar before and after the pandemic and the number of intermediate users involved in avalanches actually decreased, the number of advanced skiers involved in avalanches spiked.
According to the avalanche study the results agree with previous research that has indicated that avalanche education does not reduce avalanche exposure.
WSDOT announced the closure Monday as snow has filled the avalanche chutes that line the highway, which pose a safety risk for drivers and road crews. The seasonal avalanche closure currently begins at the Ross Dam Trailhead on the west side and Silver Star Gate 37 miles away on the east side.
Heavy snowfall and landslides in the Union Territory forced closure of the important Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Ramban and authorities in Kashmir have issued an avalanche warning for four districts -- Kupwara, Bandipora, Baramulla and Ganderbal.
While a medium danger avalanche warning has been issued for the higher reaches of Kupwara and Bandipora districts, a low danger avalanche warning has been issued for the higher reaches of Ganderbal and Baramulla districts, they said.
Avalanche forecasters recently raised warning flags following a pair of skier-triggered snowslides. Neither skier was injured. The Colorado Avalanche Center suggests that backcountry skiers stay clear of steeper slopes or simply wait for greater depth of solid snow.
(Photos from Colorado Avalanche Center)
A new avalanche safety initiative started in Alberta is looking to prepare backcountry explorers for the unthinkable. The founders of the Backcountry Safe are drawing from their own tragic story of surviving an avalanche in 2016.