As adventurers head into the backcountry during the Christmas holiday, they will face the same dangerous avalanche conditions that killed three experienced skiers last weekend.

The risk of avalanches is the worst Colorado has seen since the 2011 and 2012 winter and it has Ethan Greene, director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center worried as many skiers, snowboarders and snowmobilers head out to their favorite slopes, he said.

Greene urged everyone to examine the avalanche forecasts before leaving home. The avalanche conditions for much of the state are considerable, making conservative decision-making essential, according to the avalanche center. 

“The things that you usually do may not be the best plan,” Greene said. 

The avalanche risk this year is driven by an underlying weak snowpack that can give way and lead to broad slides, sometimes hundreds of feet wide, Greene said. As snow builds on top of the underlying weak snow, it sets up conditions similar to building an apartment complex on a weak ground floor, and makes it easy for skiers and others to trigger slides, he said. 

Friday through Monday, the state saw 214 avalanches, and 73 of them were triggered by humans. The conditions are not likely to improve until the spring, he said.

All three men killed in slides over the weekend were experienced backcountry skiers underlining the risk, he said.

Longtime Crested Butte ski patroller Jeff Schneider died near Ohio Pass in the Anthracite Range, according to Crested Butte Ski Patrol. He triggered an avalanche skiing just to the right of where six other skiers had safely descended, according to the official report from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. He likely descended in an area where the recent snow was shallower and softer, the report said. 

“The difference between getting caught in an avalanche and descending a slope without incident can be a matter of feet,” the report noted. 

Schneider was skiing alone, and he was found by three other skiers in the same area who had seen Schneider earlier that day. The group later noticed a large recent avalanche and realized that Schneider’s snowmobile was still parked in the area when he had told them he was planning to leave. They found him in snow 2 to 3 feet deep, the report said. 

Experienced skiers, Albert Perry, 55, and Dr. Jeff Paffendorf, 51, of Durango, died Saturday near Ophir Pass in southwestern Colorado’s San Juan Mountains. The full report on the slide they triggered has not been released by the avalanche center. 

Greene advises those headed out into the backcountry to get trained in avalanche safety and check avalanche forecasts at colorado.gov/avalanche. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.