Colorado Avalanche Information Center issues special advisory after huge uptick in slides involving people
A special avalanche advisory for the Sawatch Range, Elk and West Elk Mountains is the latest highlighted area from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, which has been very busy cataloguing the huge frequency increase in people getting caught in slides within the last two weeks. Part of that comes from late March snow storms on top of weak layers of snow, half melted and refrozen due to warmer temperatures. The other part is simply still avalanche season.
Another slide, just on Sunday afternoon, caught six people, four of whom were buried near Silverton. Once again, the CAIC is worried about sneaky avalanches that seem to break loose without any obvious signs that even well-trained and educated outdoors people can see.
CAIC's Dylan Craaybeek explained in a video posted on the group's social media page this is far from the first case of these hidden avalanches, but the danger forecast is still something you can count on to give you a good indication of the risk you face heading into different parts of Colorado. The San Juan Mountain range is one of the spots highlighted as dangerous, with wind drifts creating possibilities for slides.
Becky Vogt, a snowshoer headed back down from Lilypad Lake, stopped and spoke with your reporter in the mountains, Spencer Wilson, about the potential danger she faced even just taking a spring hike.
"There was a gentleman who gave us a heads up," Vogt explained. "Avalanche warning, Buffalo (Mountain) side, not necessarily our side, he said, hadn't heard too much about issues going up to Lilypad, so we said, 'good!' because we're headed that way"
Still the sign at the base of the Buffalo Mountain trailhead for avalanche warnings gave her something to consider for the next time she's headed up a snowy slope.
"It's not my first thought for sure, but it sounds like it honestly should be," Vogt said.