An avalanche that took place on a Colorado fourteener in recent days caused a scare in Summit County.

Per a report from the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, an avalanche was reported to have taken place on the 14,272-foot Quandary Peak with it also reported that numerous people were skinning up the mountain in the area. A helicopter was used to fly over the slide to see if ski tracks going into the slide also came out, which they did, thus no burials were suspected and the Summit County Rescue Group team that had been preparing for a mission stood down.

A more in-depth report from a Colorado Avalanche Information Center forecaster indicates that this slide took place on March 8 around 10 a.m. The slide was triggered by a third skier in a group who was traveling toward the bottom of the lower northeast facing bowl that’s above tree-line on the peak. It’s believed that the slab propagated from a lower trigger point, spanning a large stretch of the slope with a crown that was about 1.5 to two feet deep.

While no injuries resulted from this slide, one thing that makes this avalanche particularly noteworthy is that it took place on Quandary Peak – a mountain that’s sometimes considered ‘safer’ when it comes to avalanche risk. As the CAIC forecaster noted, much of this northeast bowl can be skied while “largely avoiding avalanche terrain, but doing so requires careful route selection.” As the forecaster notes, portions of this slope briefly exceed 32 degrees, with the recent avalanche occurring in one of those areas.

Another reason to highlight this avalanche is that many winter hikers with their eyes set on summiting a fourteener tend to consider Quandary Peak. While this peak has a reputation for being one of the easier fourteener routes to complete, it is not absent of avalanche risk and requires extreme caution.

Prior to heading above treeline amid winter conditions, it’s crucial to study the route first and to train to have proper knowledge regarding avalanche safety. While many avalanche safety courses are geared toward skiers and snowboarders, hikers and snowshoers can face similar risks, too.

Read the brief report on this slide here.

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