Avalanche Weekly Summary - February 20, 2025
Northern Mountains
The northern Mountains received 3 to 4 feet of snow, with the Park Range winning at around 6 feet of snow. The stormy weekend limited visibility, and we can assume many avalanches ran that we will never document. The most significant avalanches we documented were triggered during mitigation. Several were very large (D3). On 17 February, an avalanche near Vail Pass fully buried a snowmobiler. Teams from Summit County Sheriff's Office and Summit County Rescue Group found him after an hours-long burial.
Central Mountains
The Central Mountains received 1 to 5 feet of snow, with the West Elk Mountains the winner. We documented 177 large or very large avalanches. About two-thirds of the avalanches occurred on 14 and 15 February, with the rest spread evenly across the week.
Southern Mountains
The Southern Mountains received 1 to 3 feet of snow, with the northwest corner of the San Juan Mountains winning. Strong winds formed deep drifts on leeward slopes. Most avalanches broke at the interface between the older and newer snow. Mitigation work triggered large (D2) avalanches days after the storm cleared. On 18 February, a snowmobiler was caught and partially buried in an avalanche east of Wolf Creek Pass. On 19 February, a skier triggered and was partially buried in a very large (D3) avalanche south of Telluride. Neither person was seriously injured.
Heading Into the Weekend
The snowpack in the South Mountain range is adjusting to the recent load. Although obvious signs of instability are becoming less common, you can still trigger a large, dangerous avalanche in the right spots. A rapid warm-up over the weekend will bring a new slew of Wet problems at lower elevations.
The snowpack in much of the Central and Northern Mountains is a ticking time bomb. On many slopes, you can trigger a dangerous avalanche with severe consequences. Avalanches are breaking larger and wider than we have seen all year. The best way to avoid avalanches is to choose simple and low-angled terrain.
