35 US Avalanche Fatalities 2013-2014 SEASON

Information provided by Colorado Avalanche Information Center

Activity	Killed
Skier^†	10
Snowboarder^†	1
Snowmobiler	11
Snowshoer/Climber/Hiker	11
Other	2
Total	35
^† Inbounds skier/boarder	1

Accidents Reports

Date	State	Location	Description	Killed
05/28^†	WA	Liberty Ridge, Mount Rainier	6 climbers caught, buried and killed	6
05/14	WA	North face of Mount Shuksan	1 backcountry tourer (on ascent) caught and killed	1
05/03	MT	Olson Gulch, west of Anaconda	1 backcountry skier caught, died on scene	1
04/28^†	OR	Crater Lake National Park	1 snowshoer caught in cornice fall	1
03/30	OR	Paulina Peak, south of Bend	1 snowmobiler caught, buried, and killed	1
03/22	WA	Granite Mountain	1 backcountry tourer caught, buried, and killed	1
03/15	AK	Kicking Horse Valley, west of Haines	1 heliski guide caught, buried, and died from injuries	1
03/11^†	MT	Cooke City, Montana	1 snowmobiler caught, buried, and killed	1
03/10	MT	Altoona, about 10 miles northeast of Philipsburg, Montana	1 skier caught and killed	1
03/07^†	UT	Gold Hill, Uinta Mountains	1 snowmobiler caught, buried, and killed	1
03/05	CO	Sharkstooth Peak, La Plata Mountains	1 snowmobiler fully buried, missing and presumed dead	1
03/04	CO	Diablo Ridge, Pt. 12,505, approx. 1 mile W of Conejos Peak	1 skier caught, buried, and killed	1
02/28^†	MT	Mount Jumbo, Missoula	1 snowplayer and 2 residents caught and buried, 1 resident killed	1
02/22^†	MT	Troy, West Cabinet Mountain Range	2 snowmobilers caught, 1 partly buried and 1 buried and killed	1
02/18	WY	Near Togwotee Pass	1 snowmobiler caught, buried, and killed	1
02/16	ID	Frenchman Creek, northwest of Galena Summit	4 snowmobilers caught and buried, 1 killed	1
02/15^†	CO	Star Mountain, near Twin Lakes	5 skiers caught, 3 injured, 2 killed	2
02/11	OR	SW face of Cornucopia Peak, Wallowa Mountains	5 backcountry skiers caught, 1 uninjured, 2 injured, 2 killed	2
02/10	CO	Near Kebler Pass, west of Crested Butte	2 snowmobilers caught, 1 partially buried, 1 buried and killed	1
02/10	CO	North Fork Swan River, south of Keystone Ski Area	2 sidecountry riders caught, 1 partially buried, 1 buried and killed	1
02/09	UT	Left Fork Huntington Creek	1 snowmobiler caught, buried, and killed	1
02/08	UT	Near Tibble Fork Reservoir	1 snowshoer caught, buried, and lkilled	1
01/18	WA	Lewis Peak, Cascades north of Stevens Pass	1 climber killed in cornice fall avalanche	1
01/07	CO	East Vail, backcountry southeast of Vail Ski Area	4 sidecountry riders caught, 1 injured, 1 killed	1
01/01	MT	Onion Basin, northern Gallatin Range	2 snowmobilers caught, 1 buried and killed	1
12/31	CO	Parkview Mountain, west of Willow Creek Pass	One backcountry traveler buried and killed	1
12/26	WY	Pucker Face, near Jackson Hole Mountain Resort	One skier caught, buried, and killed.	1
12/26^†	ID	Neely’s, Palisades Peak	One snowmobiler, caught, buried and killed	1

^† Estimated

Statistics and Reporting

The CAIC staff investigate fatal avalanches in Colorado. CAIC forecasters post preliminary information within 24 hours. Once they visit the site and speak to the people involved, they publish a final Accident Report. Final Reports may take a week or more to compile, check, and publish.

The CAIC also collects information on close calls. If you trigger an avalanche, please submit an observation, email, or call the CAIC.

The CAIC is the central archive for avalanche accidents in the United States and maintains detailed records going back to 1950, and sparse records back to the 1860s. The CAIC online database contains avalanche accident reports in the United States since 2006. You can find reports from 1998-99 to the present atAvalanche.org. The CAIC uses the archived data to produce annual statistical graphs, available below, and aid researchers.

Avalanche Accident Statistics

Over the last 10 winters an average of 28 people died in avalanches every year in the United States. Almost every fatal accident is investigated and reported, so the CAIC can present fatality data with some certainty. There is no way to determine the number of people caught or buried in avalanches each year, because most non-fatal avalanche incidents are not reported.

The data used to construct the following graphs is from the CAIC Accident Database. The Database began with the Westwide Data Network in the 1970s. Through the efforts of Dale Atkins, Knox Williams, Betsy Armstrong and others, the Database contains records for over 970 fatalities.