A snowboarder broke his patella during an avalanche on Grizzly Peak in Colorado this past weekend, leading to a rescue by the Alpine Rescue Team.
According to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, the snowboarder was in a group of four made up of him and three skiers. They had done their due diligence, checking the avalanche forecast, noting the wind speeds, and talking to individuals who had been on the terrain the day prior, before heading into the backcountry.
The group aimed to ski a north-facing gully on the peak. The snowboarder and skier 2 dropped into the right, north-facing side of the gully at around 11am. Skier 3 went towards the the left, northeast-facing side of the gully where they triggered a wind slab avalanche that broke about 12 to 24 inches deep. Skier 3 was not caught.
Skier 2 traversed across near by rocks to gain the bed surface safely while the snowboarder traversed through snow, triggered, and was caught in an avalanche. He struck a rock with his knee on the way down, breaking his patella. He was able to self-arrest unburied after being carried about 700 vertical feet down the gully.
Skier 3 was able to contact 911 around 11:30am, descending to the injured snowboarder while skier 4 stayed remained on the ridgeline in radio contact with the other three. Skiers 2 and 3 assisted the injured snowboarder to the base of the debris pile.
The Alpine Rescue Team was able to reach the man with 24 members, six snowmobiles, and a tracked UTV, approaching from the summit of Loveland Pass and from Stephens Gulch. The snowboarder was then evacuated with a Flight for Life helicopter around 4:30 PM and taken to a hospital in Frisco.
