On Sunday afternoon a 57-year-old Denver man was buried and killed in a slab avalanche below Elkhead Pass near Mount Belford (14,197 feet) in the Sawatch Range. The man accompanied by his son and a family friend were during a multi-day backcountry ski tour. Their plan was to ski south from Vicksburg, ascended Missouri Gulch, cross Elkhead Pass into Missouri Basin and follow Pine Creek out. They were very familiar with the area from summer climbing trips and had planned this trip for months.
The men were leery of descending the short, steep, leeward slopes below Elkhead Pass (between Belford and Missouri Mountain). Just below the pass, the men removed their skis and started to climb down to some rocky ribs. At about 3 pm and only 50ish feet below the pass the snow collapsed and fractures shot out as one man approached some rocks.
A very small avalanche caught all three men and swept them down slope. The son and family friend were partly buried to their waist. It took about 10 minutes for the son to dig himself free. He hurried 15 feet upslope to his father's backpack where his father was buried face down and not breathing. He started CPR and after several minutes got a pulse but had to assist his father's breathing for sometime. His father did not regain consciousness.
The two men were able to get their unconscious companion into their tent where they monitored his condition throughout the evening. Around midnight the man died.
The men triggered a small soft slab avalanche (SS-AF-2-O). The fracture line depth generally ranged from 2-3 feet in depth by about 100 feet across. The avalanche started at about 13,000 feet and fell approximately 100 vertical feet down the southerly-facing slope. From the map the slope measures 40 degrees, which matches the estimate of 40-45 degrees.
The men carried shovels and probes but not transceivers (though transceivers would not have changed the outcome of this accident). The men where very experienced in the mountains and in winter conditions. The trio recognized the avalanche danger, were well aware of the blowing snow and the loading on the leeward slopes. They even experienced some collapsing earlier in the day. The men had a feeling of "uncertainty" about the slope but were so close to rocks they chose to continue. They only wanted to descend to the flats below the pass to set up camp.
The men did not call the CAIC avalanche hotline or visit the CAIC web site prior to leaving on the trip. The backcountry avalanche danger forecast issued Thursday afternoon (valid for Friday morning -- the start-day of their trip) for the C Mountains was "below treeline, MODERATE. Triggered releases are possible. Near and above treeline, CONSIDERABLE, especially on N-SE aspects. Triggered releases are probable." Also in the report was "In all mountain areas, this is a weak potentially dangerous backcountry snowpack. Extra caution is urged, and it would be wise for backcountry skiers, etc., to avoid steep terrain for several days until the surface layers have a chance to stabilize. By Saturday afternoon the danger had slightly eased to an overall MODERATE with pockets of CONSIDERABLE on all aspects and elevations.
Atkins
