Photo: CAIC
*UPDATED* The man who passed away in Friday’s avalanche has been confirmed as 34 year old John Knox McEwen Frank from Crested Butte, CO. The massive slide was bigger than we originally reported travelling 5,000 feet total and 2,000 vertical feet. The victim was buried over 7 feet deep. Some of the newly released photos below are downright frightening.
As reported by CAIC and the Denver Post, a backcountry skier from Colorado was killed yesterday afternoon south of Telluride on the east side of Ophir Pass in an area called Paradise Basin. The name of the victim has not been released yet, he was the first in a group of 4 to drop into the zone.
The wet slide was triggered at 12,700 feet on an east-southeast aspect around 4pm and ran 1,900 feet long and 550 feet wide with a 2 foot crown. The victim was wearing a beacon and was found around 45 minutes after the slide was triggered, he wasn’t breathing with no pulse and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Upper Paradise Basin Avalanche. Toe of Slide is out of picture frame. Photo: CAIC
Google Earth Image of the Slide - Photo: CAIC
Our deepest condolences go out to the victim’s family and friends. This was the 7th Colorado avalanche fatality of the season and 3rd in the Telluride area. Please be careful out there and be safe.
*UPDATED PHOTOS*
Photo: CAIC
Photo: CAIC
Photo: CAIC
Photo: CAIC
Photo: CAIC
Photo: CAIC
Photo: CAIC
Photo: CAIC
Photo: CAIC
RIP to the victim, really shitty news again from our own backyard. With all due respect, a line with some south in it at 4 pm = high danger this time of year.
4pm during a week that wasnt freezing at night and setting record daytime highs for march…
FULLY AGREED! Condolences to the bereaved, but anything remotely facing East at 4pm is asking for massive trouble. This would be bought (and hopefully LEARNED) in a basic Avy 1 course. In another month or two, things facing East at 4pm MAY be safe, but not during the end of the winter/beginning of the spring…
looks like a natural avi chute.
It does, as do almost all the backountry and sidecountry lines we choose to ski. anything over 35 degrees is prone to sliding, and guess what we all like to ski? 35+ degrees. And in all honesty alot of the avys recentley have been massive and unprecedentes from a weak december snowpack, and most of us would assume the stablity has improved. as they say, hindsight 20/20 but i could see alot of experienced skiers in the same situation
Sad… Why are people making such bad judgment calls this year. Vibes and lets be smart people
I am not one to armchair, and I mean no disrespect, but damn 45 mins. seems like a helluva long time to locate the victim. I wasn’t there though so I should keep my mouth shut.
The slide was 550 ft wide and ran 1900 ft
It looks like it ran 1900 VERTICAL feet…
Yeah…you should keep your mouth shut.
The slide was a mile long…45 min recovery time is understandable
http://avalanche.state.co.us/acc/acc_report.php?accfm=rep&acc_id=463
thank you for saying what i wanted to
Its not like you can just point it down that avi debris and get to the bottom in 2 mins – considering they had to ski the slide debris 5,000 linear feet and dig a pit 7 feet deep, 45 mins sounds like a well done recovery- all things considering
Digging through that debris pile would be like digging through 1 hour old cement. You know they worked their hardest to find their buddy ASAP. You do nothing but that when this happens.
These comments are in poor taste
This is a big line with small margins for error. I live in this neck of the woods and running it that time of day is rolling the dice. Such a bummer this happened. 45 minute response is not uncommon when a slide of this magnitude runs full length. You have to realize that the folks who were with him had to make sure that their own safety was taken care of first. There are lots of other slide paths that funnel the same area.
Condolences. Reporting and commenting avalanches is a sensitive deal. Tread lightly bros.
Ugghh…
First off, very sad that this happened. But it was easily preventable. Second these folks are not from Colorado. Always avoid skiing around record global warming highs, esp into the sun. RIP dude.
Dito Jamie, very sad but very preventable. Some of us were out the other day at 1 pm and that was even getting to be too late.
To all those who wrote here, he was my dear friend and we all miss him terribly. His was from Colorado and was one of the most knowledgable and cautious backcounty skiers I have ever known. He is the one that we all learned from trusted and admired. The fact that they got to him in 45 minutes was incredible considering how long this slide was and I thank everyone who helped in the rescue attempt. He would not have skied this line if he did not believe the conditions were manageable. Please keep the feelings of his family and friends in mind when posting b/c we are reading.
I’m sorry for your loss! I was with a large group there a week before the accident. I was shocked to hear of the news late Friday. Some of our group skied that exact line a week before. We had skied the northern aspects of the peak. Some ‘sled necks’ moved in and tracked it all out the day we left. I can see why they were looking to other lines. Conditions were changing rapidly while we were there, the nights no longer were dropping below freezing. I heard last night that some of the other peeps staying at the hut while we were there knew your friend.
Again, I’m sorry for your loss. I have been humbled by the news myself.
Regards
I hope you had some sick skiing, which is what any of us want, and really glad to hear that you made it out safely. Shitty year – can’t wait for the season to end and to hopefully have a safer snowpack next year. Thanks for your kind words.
Anon, thanks for commenting and condolences for your loss…really sorry about your friend.
I can’t believe the amount of arm chair quarterbacking here. Have some respect for a fellow skier, and try to think how difficult this is for people in this guys life.
Knox was great climber and friend. I spent one of the best days of my life with him on the Bugaboo spire.
I can’t imagine digging my buddy out through that mank.
First, my condolences to family and friends. Very, very sad. Second, all those who are racking this up to time of day need to be very careful with their judgmental calls. This was an enormous slab avalanche (albeit wet), on an EAST facing slope (not south). The CAIC report does not even mention time of day as a factor. Sure, it might have been one factor, but the deep pervasive weak layer from early in the season has gone nowhere…it is still there. If a slope on ANY aspect has not already slid in a huge way, the potential is still there. Please, please don’t think that skiing this any earlier would have meant it would not have happened, and use that knowledge as you are out skiing these next few weeks. Many of us (me included) were lulled into thinking things had “seized up” in the high country…they have not. Time of day notwithstanding, on ANY aspect.
First off, RIP to Knox, this is aweful. Secondly, your facts are wrong and it is very important to keep in mind time of day. From the CAIC:
•Slope Aspect: SE
•Site Elevation: 12700 ft
•Slope Angle: 38 °
•Slope Characteristic: Convex Slope
•Date: 2012/03/30
•Time: 4:00 PM
The SE means southeast. Also, east facing means its been getting intense sun since the sun came up. This is not meant to monday mornign QB but is important to recognize if you live anywhere with intense sun.
My sincere condolences to family and friends of John. I too was saddened deeply to hear about yet another death in CO this year and also that it occurred in an area that we ski all winter long. A sacred spot for sure! I became even more inflamed though when reading such disrespect from arm chair wanabees. You guys ever try to dig in real avi debree…or do a search outside of your local ski resort beacon park?! This wasn’t like your June corn camp, stop by 10:00 conditions. It was still March and it’s been a deep instability Winter and still is. So I’d check your mouths people… have some respect and think before your blog! R.I.P. John Knox and know that my crew in Durango will keep your spirit in mind every time we ski up there…and for years to come!
Knox was an a+ guy. Everyone in richmond va and from st chris who knew him know this.
Knox was top notch. Alway positive, cheerful and encouraging. His loss is tragic to the Crested Butte and Gunnison community. He will be missed but to those who had the privilege to know him, his youthful and exuberant spirit will always remain.
Knox was amazing. He was kind and genuine. I will always remember him as someone whose spirit effortlessly made everything okay. A person I will always admire.
My heart
I am a friend of Knox’s from high school.
Knox was amazing. He was kind and genuine. I will always remember him as someone whose spirit effortlessly made everything okay. A person I will always admire.
My heart goes out to his family and to his friends that with him when the avalanche took him away.
It seems in ill taste for anyone to make a comment about how an expert skier should have “known better.” Knox was respectable and wouldn’t have put himself or others in a compromising position. The avalanche and his death was beyond tragic. He will certainly be remembered for being that topic notch guy. Be mindful of what is posted for the public to see.
I knew Knox professionally, and can honestly say that he was one of the most optimistic and enthusiastic people I’ve ever known. He was truly someone, as a friend put it, “who was stoked on life.” I and all who worked with him in the woods will dearly miss him. It’s hard for us all to believe that he won’t be around to lighten things up in the future.
Be careful out there everyone-this year, next year, mornings and afternoons, whenever. The line between a sick run and a tragedy can be a fine one.
So sorry to hear about this. Knox was one of the good guys. My phone rang on Saturday afternoon and I knew that something was wrong. When I saw the CB # I just knew it was more bad news from a winter that has been very tragic.
During my years in Crested Butte I had the opportunity to follow Knox a few times up a skin track. The woods of the upper Gunnison Valley will not be the same without him.
For all of the critical comments there is a time and a place to learn from events but be respectful as this is very recent. On January 6th of this year I lost a really good friend in a slide and I can tell you that when you read the down right mean comments following newspaper articles it really hurts.
Be careful out there and look out for one another.
I knew Knox in college, and I asked him to be my field assistant for geology work in Alaska in 2001. We spent 7 weeks working together, just him and me, making maps, collecting rock samples, cooking, reading, waiting out rainy weather, etc. He was just an all around good guy. Good in the field, easy to get along with, pulled at least his share of the load, always keen for an adventure–basically all the things you would want in a partner for a long stay in AK. Knox will be sorely missed, and the world is indeed a poorer place without him.
My heart goes out to all of Knox’s friends, family, and those who loved him and who were with him on that day. Rest in peace Knox.