On February 22, 2025, a rider was caught, buried, and killed in an avalanche on Mines Peak, east of Berthoud Pass, in an area locally known as High Trail Cliffs. This image is looking up at the avalanche. Rider 1 entered the slope near the red arrow and descended along the fall line towards the sparse trees. The avalanche released on a buried weak layer, stepped down to the ground, and entrained the entire season’s snowpack. It was 550 feet wide, ran 525 vertical feet, and left debris over 7 feet deep. Multiple motorists on US Highway 40 saw the avalanche catch Rider 1 and called 911. This visible location meant that the avalanche was witnessed, and other travelers were able to respond quickly. Still, broken trees in the avalanche debris, as well as a fluctuating transceiver signal, hindered the search, and about an hour had passed by the time Rider was unburied. You can read the full details about this accident in the Final Report published by CAIC (Colorado Avalanche Information Center) @ https://ow.ly/J7Az50V8WHU
All of the fatal avalanche accidents CAIC investigates are tragic events. They do their best to describe each accident to help the people involved and the community better understand them. Many factors contribute to these accidents, and there are key takeaways we can all glean from reading these reports and studying those factors.
