Two recent avalanche incidents in Colorado are reminders to be mindful of potential crowding when descending and/or ascending couloirs this spring.
Avalanche reports, submitted by a regional/local forecasting center or backcountry enthusiast, are learning opportunities for the rest of us. Daily routines here at THR involve looking at some interesting avalanche incident reports across North America and Europe.
Two recent incidents in Colorado are noteworthy. And they are worth bringing to our readers’ attention. Both incidents involve springtime couloir skiing.
Dead Elk
The first incident involved multiple skiers. According to the observation reported by a bystander on April 20, who was in the same zone as Dead Elk Couloir, where the avalanche occurred, many people were near the slide. Dead Elk Couloir extends down Flattop Mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park.
The reporting party, Thaddeus Baringer, with eyes on Dead Elk wrote the following:
“Large slide from Dead Elk. My party was on the lake debating if the north facing aspect was still cold enough to go up when we saw this slide with at least 4 people caught as visible in the image. We heard from another party that 13 people were involved, although I’m not sure if everyone was caught or if it was 13 people in the couloir or what. Another party doing a mountaineering class went over to assist the people who got caught. We also saw an additional two slides come down from Dead Elk in the next 30 minutes as we ascended the apron between Dragon Tail and Dead Elk. Looked to be wet slabs I think. Also saw two wet loose point releases. Heard that Dragon’s Tail also slid earlier in the morning triggered by someone skiing it.”
CAIC’s forecast for the day called for above tree line wind slabs extending from N to E facing slopes as the primary hazard. The day’s danger rating was 1.
Photo of slide on Dead Elk Couloir at 10:23 PM after the slide had ended. Dragon’s Tail Couloir is on the right. Photo: Colorado Avalanche Information Center
A picture tells 1000 words. Yet, still, it only tells part of the story. The image posted on the CAIC site from the observer shows many people in Dead Elk’s (left) and Dragon’s Tail (right) runout zones. Although this individual was unclear to the precise number of skiers/riders caught, another CAIC observation from the 20th was posted by a party member caught by the slide.
The observer, Max Brand, wrote:
“My partner and I toured up to Emerald lake and started ascending Dead Elk Couloir at 9:00am. At 10:15 a party of 2 above us triggered a wind slab above them that caught and sent 7 total riders down 1500’+. Our group consisted of one skier and one split boarder both with AIARE 1 education, both had been well traveled in the backcountry.
“My partner and I were ascending Dead Elk Couloir in RMNP with a party of 2 in front of us and a party of 3 behind us. At 10:15AM when we were about 100ft away from the rock step, the party 100ft in front of us yelled “slide”. The wind slab most likely broke at an elevation of 11300′. Seconds later snow started charging towards us and knocked all of us off our feet. All 6 skiers and one split boarder got locked off their feet and tumbled 1000ft+ down to the apron of the couloir. I was initially fully buried but was able to get to the surface after the first 100 or so feet, Most of us were fully under the snow during the slide, but were able to get to the surface before it stopped moving. Nobody was fully buried when the slide stopped. After all members were identified and checked on, many skiers from the area came to help do a gear search. The slide was recorded at a top speed of 25 MPH from a GPS. Sunglasses, one BD ski pole, and a bag lunch was lost. 40 minutes after the slide, a wet loose section slid on the upper apron under Dragon’s Tail and slid 20′, it was about 10′ wide. Another small 30′ slide was reported on Dragon’s Tail, which knocked a skier off his feet, 10 minutes before the one on Dead Elk.”
Brand explained that the 8′ of new snow was light with no observed wind affected snow. Under the observation’s “weather“ section, he noted:
“The night before we had discussed the wind slab problem and were aware of the winds in the forecast. When we got to the base of the couloir there were no signs of drifted snow or instability. There was a reported 8“ of new snow in the last 12 hours with a 1 danger level on all elevations with a risk of wind slab on slopes that have more than 10 inches of drifted snow. None of us observed or voiced signs of drifted snow or instability on the boot up. The party above us that triggered a wind slab about 100‘ above them and had not voiced any signs of instability. It felt like a safe day, but the wind at the top must have drifted snow to the lee during the night and in the morning.“
Quandary Peak
The second incident occurred the following day, on April 21, and involved a slide on Quandary Peak which lies in Summit County.
Trevor Carlson, one of the skiers involved, posted this observation on the CAIC site:
“Elevation of around 13,000 ft. N/NE aspect. Wind slab. Skier triggered. My group and I began skiing the N couloir on Quandary on Sunday morning around 10:15 am. We descended 1 by 1, and after getting about 1/3 of the way down the couloir a group skied on top of us. We had told this other group our plans to ski this couloir and they could easily see us from the top. They skied on top of us on purpose. All 3 members of the group proceeded to ski from top to bottom. The third skier triggered a wind slab avalanche that broke with, what I think was an 8-12 inch crown. The avalanche flushed out the entire last 2/3 of the couloir. It caught and carried a member of my team. We think this avalanche carried him 1000+ feet over rocks. He was partially buried. We performed a rescue, while the team that triggered the avalanche proceeded to ski away.”
April 21, 2024 slide path on Quandary Couloir. Photo: Colorado Avalanche Information Center
In fairness, we are getting one perspective here. Yet, a follow up by the Summit Daily, a local news source, explains that the party triggering the avalanche used a “vulgarity” in communicating with Carlson’s group post-slide and were “non-apologetic.”
On April 21, in this zone, CAIC forecasted for potential wet slides in the alpine and near tree line. These slides were more likely on steeper slopes facing roughly west to east, with more than 8″ or more of new snow. The danger rating was categorized a 1.
Be Careful Out There: The Debrief
Undoubtedly, as they say in a good therapy session, there’s a lot to unpack here. And with our limited details, the unpacking will be limited. This much is true: we are in the midst of a ripe spring season. The upside to all this is no one was hurt. In both cases, luck played a large part in that.
The Colorado Backcountry Ski & Snowboard Group on FaceBook has a lively discussion regarding the Quandary incident. No matter how you slice it, the new norm in the backcountry is a very heads-up norm, and this has more to do with the other humans nearby, let alone making good use of the avalanche forecast, real-time snow assessments, and good karma. We’re not here to establish rules.
But, as the spring progresses, patience is key.
Some rules would be nice. One of the simplest avalanche risk mitigators is not entering a couloir if there is already a party above or below you, common sense if you’ve taken a level 1. There are a lot of places to go backcountry skiing. Seems like multi-person and inter-party catch and carries have become routine in busy areas. This sort of accident used to be considered completely unacceptable. This trajectory is untenable; it’s only a matter of time before we have another large multi fatality accident.
I spent much of yesterday poking around, skinning, thinking about the rules. Some would be/are quite clear. And then there’s the concept of following the rules, or, at a minimum, being less than myopic about “the send.” I imagine a time, maybe not so far away, when rules are mandated (possibly enforced), permits required, to ski more congested zones. Cannot imagine folks desire that. Along those lines, although not precisely a set of prescriptive rules, the Ski Kind program (a Winter Wildlands Alliance and Granite Backcountry Alliance initiative) sets out some basics…as in skiing kind. Thanks for commenting Colby….and yes, some rules would be nice.
It seems like we already have some common sense ‘rules’ in place, as far as taking on added risk when climbing below another party, avoiding skiing on top of others, etc. In a perfect world, these rules are followed in normal situations, and we avoid party-party incidents and conflicts. I suppose there is nuance between Rules (Laws?) and rules (ethics?) similar to climbing where we have some official Rules like no power drilling in National Parks, vs ethics of top down vs ground up ascents. I am generally of the opinion that the ski community can handle the task of community enforcement of lower case ‘r’ rules, as evidenced by the blowback to the offending party in this Quandry peak incident.
In my experience, where things get more complicated is in more abnormal situations. For example a line that most parties ski top down, but a rogue group decides to ascend the line on a day with significant warming – is it then appropriate to ski on top of another party? Another real example is getting to the top of a run behind another group, and having the lower party pull out photo/video equipment and start to setup a photoshoot mid descent. How long does the party above need to wait on a photoshoot before they ski on top of this party? Obviously, being communicative, courteous and respectful of other parties is critical for these interactions to go smoothly (pleasant and safe). A major facet of courtesy and respect for other groups in consequential terrain is operating within your groups skillset and in an efficient manner.