Three snowmobilers caught in avalanche on Colorado's Gravel Mountain
Avalanche danger remains high in Colorado, thanks to several rounds of heavy snow that moved through the area in February. Three snowmobilers were partially buried by debris when they were caught in an avalanche north of Granby on Saturday.
Robert Plunkett almost was one of those snowmobilers, had he not already been headed down the mountain when the slide started.
"I couldn't stop." Plunkett said "So I, you know, use speed and throttle control and braking. I actually tapped down on the section of snow above where it broke at the crown and then dropped off onto basically where it had slid, which was, you know, there's giant boulders and rocks on that."
Plunkett can be seen in video taken by a snowmobiler from a different party racing down the slope as the snow crashes down around him. He said his experience with this particular area gave him the control and calm he needed to get himself clear when things went wrong.
"I do take risk, but they're educated and calculated," Plunkett said. "Is it the smartest decision to go up there? Not so much, but yeah, any backcountry activity that you do has its risks that come with it."
Plunkett said aside from his decades of experience on this very slope, he and his crew come as prepared as they can be, but they'll be paying close attention to the conditions before they hit Gravel Mountain again.
"We all wear beacons. We all have Avy bags. We've all been through, you know, Avy one and Avy two classes, we know checking snowpack."
"But, you know, people are human...we do make mistakes and, you know, lapse in judgment."
According to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, numerous riders took to the slope of Gravel Mountain that day, high marking or jumping the cornice, before the avalanche occurred. The area is a popular place for snowmobiling, and authorities said multiple riders were on the slope when the avalanche was triggered.
Two snowmobile riders were reportedly high marking, driving up the steep slope as far as possible before turning around and going back downhill, when they were caught and partially buried by the debris. One of them deployed their avalanche airbag. The CAIC said a third snowmobiler jumped the cornice and was partially buried when they rode into the flowing avalanche.
A fourth snowmobiler was standing on the cornice at the time. Officials said they fell onto the bed surface but were not touched by the moving debris.
The Grand County Sheriff's Office responded to assist as bystanders and companions went to help the snowmobilers. They said no one was buried or significantly injured in the avalanche and no one is missing.
