Yeah, those avalanche beacons are expensive, but have you priced funerals lately? Here's a story from our local paper, about our local hill (oops, Mesa) and one that didn't get away.
Man, 27, killed in Grand Mesa avalanche
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
http://www.gjsentinel.com
Sunday, April 03, 2005
A 27-year-old Boulder man died Friday in an avalanche on Grand Mesa despite being told that morning by state employees of the extreme avalanche danger.
The man, whose name was not released, was skiing with a 26-year-old Grand Junction man Friday morning when a 3-foot slab of snow broke loose shortly before 11 a.m., said Susan McBurney, spokeswoman for the Mesa County Sheriff?s Department.
Authorities also did not release the name of the Grand Junction man.
The two had parked their brown Chevrolet pickup on the shoulder of Colorado Highway 65 inside the avalanche zone on Grand Mesa, just 150 feet beyond an ?Avalanche Area? sign.
In front of the pickup was a slide that was triggered by Colorado Department of Transportation employees as avalanche control the day before.
After the two men got out of their truck, two CDOT employees stopped them, said a CDOT supervisor who did not give his name.
?They were advised it wouldn?t be a good idea,? the CDOT employee said. ?Where their vehicle was parked is in an avalanche area.?
One of the skiers told the CDOT employee they were going to do a pit analysis, or determine the avalanche danger, the CDOT supervisor said.
?If they would have done that, they would have known they were in a potentially serious high (avalanche) area,? the supervisor said.
Authorities did not know what triggered the fatal slide.
?The survivor heard a pop, looked up and that?s when he knew the slide was coming,? McBurney said.
After the snow slide, the survivor called 911 from his cell phone on Highway 65. He also flagged down a CDOT maintenance crew to help, McBurney said. The victim was not wearing an avalanche beacon, which hindered the rescue effort, McBurney said.
Two hours elapsed between when the survivor called 911 and when the victim?s body was found.
The survivor gave rescue workers his friend?s last known location, and by ?scuffing and looking for clues,? searchers pinpointed the victim?s location under the snow at about 1 p.m., McBurney said.
The man was dead when emergency personnel pulled his body from the snow. An autopsy will be performed, McBurney said.
The avalanche slid on the north side of Grand Mesa, north of the Skyway ski area, according to Mindy Crane, spokeswoman for the CDOT. Not being able to see the far north end of the avalanche, search and rescue workers estimated its total width at about 50 yards, according to McBurney. A group of trees between the avalanche and Highway 65 prevented the snow from sliding onto the road.
The CDOT closed Highway 65 between mile markers 32 and 35 at about 11:30 a.m. to allow easier access for search and rescue workers, Crane said. The road was reopened at about 2:30 p.m.
Mesa County Search and Rescue ground and snowmobile teams set up a command post at Mesa Lakes Lodge shortly after the first call came in at 10:54 a.m. The Plateau Valley Fire Department, the CDOT and the U.S. Forest Service helped with the recovery, McBurney said.
The CDOT closed Highway 65 Wednesday night because of avalanche concerns. It was reopened Thursday afternoon after CDOT crews blasted the north face of the avalanche zone for safety.
No further avalanche control measures are slated for Highway 65 in the near future, Crane said.
Rob Hunker, an avalanche forecaster with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, will begin investigating the conditions surrounding Friday?s avalanche today, a standard procedure after a fatality.
Hunker said the potential for triggering an avalanche on Grand Mesa was well-publicized earlier in the week. The avalanche risk Friday was listed as ?considerable? near and above the tree line and on slopes facing north, east and southwest, according to the Avalanche Information Center?s Web site.
More than a foot of new snow fell on the mesa since Wednesday night. That, combined with a strong sun and high temperatures in the afternoon, increases the danger of avalanches, according to the Avalanche Information Center?s Web site.
Anyone skiing backcountry should be aware of avalanche risks and pack a beacon, a shovel and a probe, Hunker said.
?Avalanche fatalities on Grand Mesa do not occur that often, but the potential is certainly there,? he said.
The last avalanche death on the mesa occurred in January 1999 when a 43-year-old snowmobiler fell behind a group of other snowmobilers. Using avalanche beacons, members of the group were able to dig the man out of the snow in about 15 minutes, but were unable to revive him using CPR.
Since 1985, 114 people have died in avalanches in Colorado, according to the Avalanche Information Center.
