2023/04/29 - Colorado - Bald Mountain, southeast of Breckenridge

Published 2023/05/05 by Mike Cooperstein, Ethan Greene - Colorado Avalanche Information Center

Snowstorms and strong westerly winds throughout the season drifted snow onto easterly-facing slopes. Warm temperatures in April consolidated the snowpack. The snowpack surface melted and then froze on April 26. A storm on April 27 dropped seven inches of new snow. Strong westerly winds drifted the snow onto easterly-facing slopes above treeline. On April 29th, the Breckenridge Ski Area reported a settled base of 69 inches (175 centimeters), or 87% percent of the seasonal average, at their snow study plot on an easterly-facing slope at around 11,200 feet. 

On April 30, CAIC forecasters observed a snow profile adjacent to the avalanche track at 12,480 feet, about halfway between the crown and the toe of the debris. They found a 41-inch (105-centimeter) deep snowpack. The snowpack was well consolidated and made up of mostly dry, rounded grains. The upper 3 inches of snow (8 centimeters) was wet and cohesionless.

Skier 1 left the Sallie Barber Mine Trailhead on County Road 520 at 7:00 AM on April 29. It took him about an hour to walk 2.3 miles along the plowed road until he reached the spot where the road ends. He left the dirt road and climbed south about 1.5 miles through gentle forested terrain. He ascended west, up a broad slope until he reached a saddle just north of the main summit. Skier 1 traveled south along the rocky ridgeline, reaching the summit of Bald Mountain around 10:40 AM. He continued south past the summit to the top of a steep, east-facing slope above several rocky chutes.

Skier 1 began his descent at 11:30 AM and triggered an avalanche in steep terrain about 300 feet below the summit. The avalanche broke about 10 inches deep in dry, wind drifted snow and quickly picked up speed. It gained mass when it entrained wet surface snow lower down in the chute. The avalanche swept Skier 1 downhill about 1,700 feet and buried him about two feet deep.

Around 5:45 PM on April 29, Summit County Dispatch received a report of a skier overdue in the area of Bald Mountain. The reporting party told the dispatcher that Skier 1 planned to travel on the northeast face of Bald Mountain, and he was not answering his phone. Rescue teams and a Flight For Life helicopter were dispatched to look for Skier 1. Around 7:00 PM, the helicopter crew spotted an avalanche on the east face of Bald Mountain. They could not identify tracks in or out of the avalanche debris. Deputies from the Summit County Sheriff's Office flew a drone to the scene of the avalanche but were unable to obtain a good view. Around 8:30 PM, two rescuers from Summit County Rescue Group (SCRG) left County Road 520 and ascended on climbing skins to the site of the avalanche. They arrived at the toe of the debris about two hours later and began a search. They located Skier 1 with avalanche rescue transceivers around 11:00 PM and dug him out of the snow, but there were no signs of life. Additional SCRG rescuers and Summit County Sheriff's deputies transported Skier 1’s body to the trailhead. They reached County Road 520 around 3:30 AM on April 30.

All of the fatal avalanche accidents we investigate are tragic events. We do our best to describe each accident to help the people involved and the community as a whole better understand them. We offer the following comments in the hope that they will help people avoid future avalanche accidents.

Skier 1 was caught in a relatively small avalanche. Because he was on a very steep slope, the avalanche was enough to knock him off of his feet and take him downhill. As it ran downhill, the avalanche flowed into wet snow and entrained additional snow. The avalanche grew in volume as it traveled through the track and down the avalanche path. At the bottom of the slope, the debris flowed into a gully, creating a pile of snow around 10 feet deep. What started as a dry slab avalanche, only a few inches deep, turned into a significant slide with enough debris to bury Skier 1. Even small avalanches can be very dangerous when they entrain snow and grow in size or when they flow into terrain that confines the debris into a deeper pile.   

Skier 1 was traveling alone. He was caught in the avalanche, rode it downhill, and was buried in the debris pile. The snow was wet, and the debris was dense. There was no way for Skier 1 to get out of the debris by himself, and no one around to help. We will never know if the outcome would have been different if Skier 1 was with a partner, but we do know that a buried person’s chances of survival increase if there is someone there to help.

Traveling alone in the backcountry is riskier than traveling with a partner or in a group. Challenging situations or injuries that are more easily addressed by a team can be difficult or even insurmountable for an individual. Although difficult situations can be easier to manage with a group, there is nothing inherently wrong with traveling in the backcountry alone. People are drawn to the mountains by their beauty and the opportunity for adventure. We each choose how we want to face the challenges they offer and decide what is acceptable risk for ourselves. Traveling alone in avalanche terrain is not wrong, but it is a choice that allows little room for error.

One option for solo backcountry travelers is to wear an avalanche airbag pack. These devices need to be set up correctly and deployed by people in stressful situations. However, it is a device that can be used by a single person, and in the right situation they can limit burial depth or help keep your airway above the snow surface.

Skier 1 was traveling alone but wearing an avalanche rescue transceiver. If you choose to accept the increased risk of traveling in the mountains alone, being searchable will help rescuers if you are involved in an accident. It puts fewer rescuers at risk because it is easier to find you. It decreases the time rescuers are exposed to danger and uses less of their very limited resources.