Date & Time: March 14, 2002; shortly before 3:00 pm
Location: Strawberry Gulch, East of Aspen Mountain, Pitkin County.
Elevation: 9,800 feet
Aspect: North-Northwest
On Thursday afternoon a backcountry skier was buried and killed on the backside of Aspen Mountain. At about 2:30 the 39-year-old woman was last seen by a friend leaving the ski area through a Forest Service Backcountry Access Gate. At the gate--posted with a warning sign--the friend turned back, but the victim continued.
At about 4:30 the victim's father notified the ski patrol about the missing woman. A couple of ski patrollers were sent to the gate. They quickly found her track below the snowmobile-packed road (Loushine's Road) that traverses back to the ski area. The victim's track was easy to follow as it was the only track continuing below the road. The woman continued down into a narrowing gully. As she attempted to traverse from one side of the gully to the other she triggered a soft slab avalanche and was buried. The avalanche likely occurred before 3:00 pm. She was found under 5 feet of snow by probers at 7:15 pm.
East Side of Aspen Mountain (Photo courtesy of ©Doug Driskell, 2002)
The 4-foot deep soft slab avalanche released at about 9800 feet and fell 200 vertical feet on a NNE-facing side of the gully. The slope angle was 45 degrees. The ski patrollers called the spot a "prime terrain trap." The bed surface was in the deep layer of depth hoar, about a foot above the ground. The snow likely failed on the rain crust that formed in early January.
The victim was found near the backpacks in the foreground of the photograph.
The woman was a frequent Aspen visitor and said to be a good skier.
Atkins & Williams
(with input from Jim Hearn and Doug Driskell, AMSP)