Avalanche — West Elk and Sawatch Mountains, Colorado

2019-03-09 · West Elk and Sawatch Mountains, Colorado

Event narrative

Two people were clearing snow from a low-angled roof south of Crested Butte when the snow avalanched. Both individuals were caught and buried for around 10 minutes until someone noticed the avalanche. After emergency services arrived, the first person was dug out and survived. The second person was buried more deeply and when they were located by probing, they were not breathing. The two individuals were buried for approximately 20 to 30 minutes.

Wider weather episode

A strong winter storm dumped 8 to 16 inches of new snow with locally higher amounts exceeding 2 feet over the West Elk Mountains on top of an already unstable snowpack. As two people cleared snow from a low-angled roof south of Crested Butte, the snow avalanched. That same storm produced 8 to 13 inches of new snow across the Gore and Elk Mountains which resulted in a natural avalanche in Castle Creek Valley south of Aspen.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 801603. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.