Good Weather Lowers Western Avalanche Risk

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Following a deadly avalanche season marked by two deaths within ski areas, forecasters around the West say favorable weather has kept the risk of slides relatively low so far this winter.

DENVER — Following a deadly avalanche season marked by two deaths within ski areas, forecasters around the West say favorable weather has kept the risk of slides relatively low so far this winter.


Even in Colorado, where the northern and central mountains have some of the deepest late-December snow levels in decades, warm weather has helped strengthen the bond between snow layers.


Still, forecasters are keeping a wary eye on the region, which includes such popular ski resorts as Aspen, Vail, Copper Mountain, Breckenridge and Steamboat Springs.


"We have small areas that have that weak foundation, but now it's buried very deeply," said Scott Toepfer, a forecaster with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. "Our concern is that as the winter progresses we'll come to a point where we just get that last inch of snowfall and windblown snow, onto primarily north- and northeast-facing slopes, that will be the straw that breaks the camel's back."


Last season saw eight avalanche deaths in Utah, the highest number since record-keeping started in 1951. Colorado avalanches killed five, and four people were killed in Idaho slides. Nationally, there were 28 deaths last season, according to the avalanche center.


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That figure is about average. What was unusual about the winter of 2004-05 is that slides at Colorado's Arapahoe Basin in May and at Nevada's Mount Charleston in January killed one person each. In the previous 19 years, just three of the 416 known avalanche deaths in the nation were within ski area boundaries, according to the National Avalanche Center.


So far this season, the center said, the only two known avalanche fatalities in the United States have been in Colorado. One was a hiker on snowshoes; the other a backcountry snowboarder.


Recent warm weather and rain in central Idaho and other areas helped solidify deep snow from earlier storms.


"When we do lose buried, weak layers on the ground, that's one less thing to worry about," said Janet Kellam, director of the Sawtooth National Forest Avalanche Center in Ketchum, Idaho, near the Sun Valley resort. "In spite of rainy, crummy, gray days in Ketchum, we're actually quite pleased."


Utah forecasters were expecting more storms soon, bringing new snow quickly enough on the heels of previous snowfall to prevent the development of weak layers that could increase the avalanche danger, said Drew Hardesty, a forecaster for the Utah Avalanche Center. "I think things are shaping up to be OK."


Colorado avalanche forecaster Spencer Logan said the avalanche danger around the state has eased since Sunday. But even in southwestern Colorado, which has had relatively low amounts of snow, there remains a risk for slides.


"The southern area has pretty shallow snowpack, and very strong winds the last couple of days stripped down a lot of mountain areas to bare ground," Logan said. "What snow is left is stacked up in pretty unstable configurations."


Ski resorts use regular patrols and tools including explosives to cause avalanches in controlled conditions.


Recent snow has been a boon to ski areas and backcountry tour operators, who work to make sure their clients understand the risks. That includes the 10th Mountain Division Hut Association, which makes 14 high-elevation shelters available to backcountry skiers via a network of about 350 miles of trails.


Executive director Ben Dodge said the group tries to match client experience levels with the terrain.


"Once people get to the hut and want to make turns on their own, we just hope they have good equipment and skills and know how to use them," Dodge said.


Source: Associated Press


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