Avalanche — Southwestern San Juan Mountains, Colorado

2023-02-25 · Southwestern San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Event narrative

Two backcountry skiers unintentionally triggered an avalanche on a northwest-facing slope near Vallecito Reservoir. The avalanche was 12 to 30 inches deep and about 200 feet wide at the crown face. It ran about 300 vertical feet through a burn scar, stumps, small aspens, and thick willows. Both of the skiers were buried and did not survive. The time of the avalanche is unknown, but occurred sometime during the mid morning hours.

Wider weather episode

A series of winter storms brought heavy, wind swept snow, to the mountains of southwest Colorado from mid to late February. This snow fell on an older layer of snow that was deposited in late January and early February, which had become more faceted and weak. As a result, an avalanche was triggered south of Vallecito Reservoir.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1075012. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.