Along US 40 in Colorado, one major avalanche path has a name that sounds much friendlier than one might expect. The Disney Avalanche Path near Milepost 252.4 has a history tied to one of the most significant avalanche accidents in Colorado history.
The path sits above the highway along Berthoud Pass, stretching thousands of feet from its starting zone to the roadway. While avalanches from Disney rarely reach US 40, it has seen a few massive slides cover the road, including the one that gave it its name.
A Massive Avalanche Path Above US 40
The Disney Avalanche Path begins at approximately 11,880 feet in elevation and drops roughly 2,600 feet toward the roadway. The runout zone sits at approximately 9,280 feet, while the maximum vertical fall reaches about 2,700 feet. The path extends for approximately 6,080 feet and can affect about 800 feet of roadway when an avalanche reaches US 40.
Disney averages about 1.5 avalanche events per year, although only about 0.3 avalanches per year on average reach the highway. The path is regularly managed through helicopter bombing as part of avalanche control operations.
The Tragedy That Gave Disney Its Name
The avalanche path was originally known as the Dam slide because a water diversion dam was located in its runout zone. That changed on April 8th, 1957, when freelance photographer John Hermann and his assistant, Roland Wyatt, had been contracted by Disney Studios to film an avalanche documentary. The crew contacted the Colorado Highway Department about finding a suitable location where they could capture an avalanche on film.
The Dam slide was an ideal locatio, having received 79 inches of snow during the previous week and having a reputation for rarely, if ever, reaching the highway. That common reputation convinced the filmmakers that it was safe to position their cameras relatively close to the runout area.
Some local residents did apparently warn that the conditions could create an avalanche that would reach the road. Still, Wyatt positioned himself upslope with remote cameras while Hermann set up his equipment directly on US 40. Highway Department supervisor Wayne Whitlock was with Hermann.
When the avalanche was triggered, it released a slide far larger than expected. The avalanche’s powerful air blast snapped large trees and sent them into the air. The powder cloud reportedly rose several hundred feet, with trees thrown as high as 200 feet. Wyatt was knocked down and buried but managed to dig himself out, escaping with cuts and bruises.
Hermann and Whitlock remained with the camera and continued filming as the avalanche descended. Hundreds of tons of snow buried the highway, tragically killing both men.
The footage captured by Hermann was later released by Disney Studios for avalanche training purposes, but it was not made public. However the footage was shown at a Frisco Museum Winter Lecture in March of 2020. Longtime avalanche mitigation expert Ray Mumford talked through the story and discussed changes that have since been made to avalanche mitigation in Colorado.
A Sleeping Giant That Still Matters
Following the 1957 tragedy, the slide became known as the Disney slide path. The area has since been subject to regular avalanche control.
That was the last time for a long time that an avalanche reached the highway from the Disney slide path. March 5th, 2019, changed that, when avalanche mitigation in the path once again created a slide big enough to reach the road. That time nobody was caught, but it still served as quite a reminder as to the immense power lying in that path.