The good folks at the Colorado Avalanche Information Center want to remind the backcountry community that just because its almost June doesn’t mean avalanche conditions don’t exist in the mountains.
“At CAIC, we refer to avalanche years—not seasons—because avalanches can happen any time of year where there’s snow on steep slopes. Right now, you will absolutely find snow on steep slopes at high elevations in the mountains. And even though the avalanche danger is LOW (1 of 5), you need to think about wet avalanches if you travel in these places.”
The warning comes following a May 29th wet slide avalanche north of Ophir. Thankfully the skier who triggered it was able to escape getting dragged through the rocks exposed by the gouging wet avalanche. The incident serves as reminder to Colorado backcountry skiers and snowboarders to follow a few tips to avoid the current wet avalanche problems:
– Start and end your day early.
– Keep a close eye on overnight temperatures.
– Assess the frozen crusts in the upper snowpack. The thicker they are, the better and longer they will support your weight throughout the day.
– Favor deeper snowpack areas and avoid parts of a steep slope with protruding rocks.
– Move off steep slopes anytime you experience a rain-on-snow event.
