Avalanche — Northwestern San Juan Mountains, Colorado

2025-02-25 · Northwestern San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Event narrative

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center rated the avalanche danger at this location on the day of the incident as Moderate (2/5), with persistent slab avalanches being the main concern. The likelihood of an avalanche was rated as Possible and the expected size was Large to Very Large (up to D3), large enough to not only bury, injure, or kill a person but also to bury cars, destroy a house, or break trees. The period from late November through early February had been generally dry, punctuated by strong but brief winter storms. In the week prior to this event, a major winter storm had brough a fresh 3-4 feet of snow to the area, along with light accumulations on subsequent days. This led to a weak, unstable snowpack that had already resulted in two fatal avalanche accidents in the days prior. On the day of the accident, two backcountry skiers had opted to ski an area know locally as Mine Dump, a steep, north-facing slope west of the town of Ophir, CO. Skier 1 triggered an avalanche in the upper snowpack that then stepped down to deep weak layers twice before reaching the ground. This avalanche caught skier one and carried him into a tree, injuring him. Skier 2, who was not caught, alerted a friend via radio, and the friend alerted San Miguel County Search and Rescue. San Miguel County Search and Rescue freed Skier 1 and evacuated him to a waiting ambulance, which later transferred him to a helicopter to airlift him to hospital.

Wider weather episode

After a prolonged winter storm from February 14th to the 19th dumped 3-4 feet of snow on the San Juan Mountains, the snow pack in the region was somewhat unstable. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center rated the avalanche danger on February 25th in the area of Ophir, CO as Moderate or 2/5, and listed the probability of avalanches as possible, with a size of D3, or Large to Very Large. On this date, in an area known locally as Mine Dump, a backcountry tourer triggered an avalanche rated as D1.5, big enough to injure but not necessarily to kill. This skier was caught and carried into a tree, which did cause injuries and required the aid of San Miguel County Search and rescue for excavation and evacuation.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1239214. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.