GILPIN COUNTY - Rescuers are trying to help an injured skier caught in an avalanche in Gilpin County Sunday afternoon.
The slide occurred near the Forest Lakes area, above Rollins Pass.
I was up in the area today, and when I came out to East Portal in the late afternoon, there were multiple rescue vehicles present. It looks like they took snowmobiles up the Rollins Pass road to get to the accident site.
Rumbling was that another incident over near Copper. I haven't heard anything more about that one other than as a patrol we were put on standby.
In the morning we were told to be ready in case anything happened in the area, but I think solar radiation was less than expected. This meant that there was very few things moving, rather than the widespread stuff that people were expecting.
andy, thanks for the heads-up. thanks for posting any more info you find. _________________ Please don't dominate the rap, Jack,
if you've got nothing new to say.
-Jerry
Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 466 Location: Boulder, Colorado
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 4:55 am Post subject:
The skier was rescued late yesterday evening. Still no details on the location or nature of the avalanche.
From the Denver Post: GILPIN COUNTY — A skier who was caught in an avalanche near Forest Lakes in Gilpin County was rescued about 9 p.m. Sunday.
According to the Gilpin County Sheriff's Office, Nathan Russell, 27, of Fort Collins was snowboarding and skiing with friends Tom Adamsom, 30 and Jessy Levine, 27, both also of Fort Collins, when Nathan started a downhill run and was caught in an avalanche. He was able to ride it out but suffered what was believed to be a dislocated shoulder.
Here's what I found this weekend on some lee areas up high near the divide. This is at 11,900 on a 30-degree slope on an ENE aspect, about a half mile from Forest Lakes. Wind slab of about 1-foot thickness sitting on a hard frozen crust. The slab sheared fairly easily off of the crust in numerous hand shear tests. Note that this slab apparently formed from about 2-3 inches of new snow and a lot of wind over the Thurs/Fri/Sat timeframe. Just a 100 yards away or so on a more windward aspect, there was just the frozen crust and no fresh slab.
Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 4647 Location: Breckenridge CO
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 1:07 pm Post subject:
andy m wrote:
The skier was rescued late yesterday evening. Still no details on the location or nature of the avalanche.
From the Denver Post: GILPIN COUNTY — A skier who was caught in an avalanche near Forest Lakes in Gilpin County was rescued about 9 p.m. Sunday.
According to the Gilpin County Sheriff's Office, Nathan Russell, 27, of Fort Collins was snowboarding and skiing with friends Tom Adamsom, 30 and Jessy Levine, 27, both also of Fort Collins, when Nathan started a downhill run and was caught in an avalanche. He was able to ride it out but suffered what was believed to be a dislocated shoulder.
Here's what I found this weekend on some lee areas up high near the divide. This is at 11,900 on a 30-degree slope on an ENE aspect, about a half mile from Forest Lakes. Wind slab of about 1-foot thickness sitting on a hard frozen crust. The slab sheared fairly easily off of the crust in numerous hand shear tests. Note that this slab apparently formed from about 2-3 inches of new snow and a lot of wind over the Thurs/Fri/Sat timeframe. Just a 100 yards away or so on a more windward aspect, there was just the frozen crust and no fresh slab.
The web site has a link to post observations. They are still doing some forecasting and it's helpful for them to get information. _________________ Creeds and doctrines are like a raft to get you to the other shore and then to relinquish. Neither cling to the raft or reject it when drowning. Even better, become a strong swimmer.
Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 1898 Location: not suited for office work
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 1:23 pm Post subject:
Not an uncommon snow condition in the spring.
A photo from a ski cut slide triggered April 25.
Didn't initiate on the crust because it was stormy and density changes were still sensitive. Stepped down to the old frozen surface as it ran.
The old surface can be seen above the crown, looker's right. _________________
Quote:
All the cagey avalanche folks I know, me included, have sworn off slopes steeper than about 33° for the rest of the season.
Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 4647 Location: Breckenridge CO
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 2:16 pm Post subject:
wow wrote:
Not an uncommon snow condition in the spring.
A photo from a ski cut slide triggered April 25.
Didn't initiate on the crust because it was stormy and density changes were still sensitive. Stepped down to the old frozen surface as it ran.
The old surface can be seen above the crown, looker's right.
Yeah, Here in Colorado we have not quite made a complete transition to a full on spring snowpack especially on shady aspects above treeline. It just hasn't been that warm yet and with a the wind keeping things cool, transporting the snow from the little storms we've been getting the corn is on slow cook.
Don't let your guard down, especially in high consequence terrain. Little slabs in steep funnels can quickly get unmanageable. _________________ Creeds and doctrines are like a raft to get you to the other shore and then to relinquish. Neither cling to the raft or reject it when drowning. Even better, become a strong swimmer.
Joined: 19 Jan 2005 Posts: 46 Location: Livingston
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 3:37 pm Post subject:
Yep,
I was just going to post to keep an eye out for winter condition instabilities even now on shady high aspects. I got turned away on one of my favorite couloirs by wind deposit on near surface facets on crust this weekend. You travel on snow you could drive a tank on to get to that high north line and all of a sudden your dealing with winter conditions. It probably wouldn't have gone but had the shooting cracks thing goin' on. Frustrating, as by now it has probably overheated and blown out wet slide, oh well ....
After having a partner (my wife) take a big ride this year I'm trying to maintain the attitude to look for instabilities - not stability. Subtle difference but a different perception. If you believe it you'll see it I guess. Pain in the ass in a way as how often are things "bomber" - around here almost never - almost always some instability. But after my wife's ride I realized I would rather not ski anything over 30 deg. again if it meant never having her or another partner buried. I'm having a hard time finding the risk/reward balance now. Some world class climbers/ski mountaineers live here and it makes it a bit tougher to get a feel for what is "proper" risk . They push it so close so often and always seem to get away with it, although they all have a list of dead partners... How they do that I don't know... if my wife had died in that slide that would have surely been my last day on skis.
Frankly, after 7 months straight I'm tired of dealing with it ... BRING ON THE CORN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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