‘Extremely lucky’: 5 people walked away after being caught in avalanches in Colorado over the weekend

A skier was caught and carried in this avalanche at Jones Pass, near Berthoud Pass, on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2025. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center says the state’s persistent slab problem isn’t going away anytime soon.
Colorado Avalanche Information Center

Even as Colorado’s snowpack sits near historic lows, avalanches remain a threat to backcountry travelers.

Multiple people were caught and carried in avalanches over the weekend, according to field reports filed with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. Luckily, nobody was seriously injured or killed in any of the incidents.

“We were extremely lucky to be mostly okay after such a large avalanche,” one backcountry traveler wrote in a field report after their partner was caught in a large slide in the East Vail backcountry on Friday.

The avalanche incidents occurred in the Vail and Summit County area, the Front Range and in Rocky Mountain National Park, where the state avalanche center has rated danger as “moderate” over the past several days.

In the East Vail incident, a skier and snowboarder traveled from Vail Mountain to an area known as Timber Fall. One person was caught in a slide and was pinned up against a tree with her head and arms above the snow. She was able to radio back that she was “OK” with only scratches on her face, but she was unable to move, according to the report. Her partner then traveled back up to her location to dig her out. The duo witnessed no signs of cracking before the avalanche.

Then, on Saturday, two of three skiing on Hallett Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park were caught in subsequent slides, according to the field report. One person was caught by a slide and was briefly buried but was able to grab a tree, which dislocated his shoulder but kept him on the surface. As another person dropped in, they triggered the remaining snow, though they weren’t buried.

Also Saturday, a skier was caught and carried about 50 yards in an avalanche near Jones Pass, west of Berthoud Pass, but was able to stay on top of the debris and walk away. Another skier on Saturday was caught and carried about 35 yards in a slide on Mount Trelease, east of the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels, but was able to dig themselves out of the debris.

In the central mountains west of Aspen, the avalanche danger was rated at “considerable” over the weekend. The CAIC wrote in its forecast for the weekend that it had recorded avalanches that were large enough to break fully-grown trees in the central mountains and one avalanche that was over a mile wide.

Avalanche danger varies across the state, CAIC Deputy Director Brian Lazar said in an email Monday. With weather forecasts calling for more than a week with little to no snow, Lazar said “the avalanche danger will very slowly decline over time.” However, the existence of a persistent slab problem in Colorado will likely keep avalanche danger at “moderate” in many areas for the foreseeable future, he said. 

A persistent slab problem occurs when a persistent weak layer in the snowpack is buried by additional layers of snow and “it can stick with us for weeks, if not longer,” Lazar said. He noted that while the likelihood of triggering avalanches will slowly decline, “the consequences of triggering a persistent slab avalanche will not change.”

“Fortunately, there is enough snow for riding and recreating, which is great news,” Lazar said. “The most important thing is to check the avalanche forecast for where you’re going, which will highlight the most suspect slopes where you might run into this Persistent Slab avalanche problem.”