The official report related to a fatal avalanche that took place near Breckenridge on April 29 has been released by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. It details a slide that killed a solo backcountry tourer, carrying him 1,700 feet downhill before leaving him buried about two feet under the surface of the snow.

The slide took place on the east face of 13,690-foot Bald Mountain at about 11:30 AM, with Bald Mountain located roughly 6.5 miles southeast of Breckenridge. The avalanche broke off about 300 feet below the summit as the solo backcountry skier was descending the peak.

While the avalanche broke at about 10 inches deep, it quickly gain speed and mass as it ripped down the steep slope, picking up additional wet snow in its path as it moved down the mountain. The skier was swept away and carried 1,700 feet.

The skier was reported overdue at about 5:45 PM, with a search started and a helicopter ultimately locating the avalanche on Bald Mountain at about 7 PM. Two rescuers arrived on-foot at the scene by 8:30 PM, locating the missing skier under the snow via his transceiver beacon at about 11 PM. There were no signs of life.

Per usual, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) released their analysis of what went wrong as a means of hopefully preventing a similar situation from occurring in the future.

This avalanche was an example of how a small slide can get much larger when it picks up snow as it moves down a slope. It also demonstrated how a small slide can result in a deep debris field due to terrain, with debris from this slide ending up in a gully that caused it to grow to be up to 10-feet-deep.

The CAIC also noted that the skier’s solo-nature added to risk. Going solo means no one else is there to help dig someone out in the event of a burial.

The group also noted that even while solo, the skier was smart to wear a transceiver. This resulted in a shorter search and less risk for involved search and rescue crews. A shorter search also means using less of search and rescue’s already-limited resources.

It’s also worth noting that this skier had told someone his plans prior to leaving for the trailhead. This helped to shorten the search time, as well.

So far this snow season, 11 people have been killed by avalanches in Colorado, including six skiers.

If you’re interested in supporting Colorado’s volunteer-powered search and rescue operation, one way to do so is through the purchase of a CORSAR card. It’s cheap, at only $3 per year.

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