Multiple avalanches in the area caused emergency crews to rally Wednesday, March 23, but no one was buried or injured.
One vehicle was caught in a slide that came across U.S. Highway 6 on Loveland Pass, but Colorado Department of Transportation crews were able to create a path for the motorist to drive out. CDOT officials conducted avalanche mitigation nearby during the highway’s closure from about 11:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Summit County Rescue Group spokesperson Anna DeBattiste said search and rescue had initially been called to the scene but that they were told no one had been buried.
In the past week, two deaths have been reported across the state, including a 49-year-old man who was killed Saturday, March 19, near Steamboat Springs and a 29-year-old who was buried Tuesday, March 17, near Ophir.
The Steamboat slide happened at about 9,800 feet on a northwest-facing slope that was heavily covered by trees. The man who died was not buried but was found not breathing near a tree, and efforts to perform CPR on him were unsuccessful.
A second skier was injured and evacuated by helicopter.
The Ophir slide killed a man who was snowboarding solo. A Telluride heliskiing crew had spotted tracks heading into avalanche debris but no exit tracks, according to a report by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
For the 2021-22 season, there have been at least 16 individuals caught by snow slides, including 10 who were buried. These slides have resulted in six fatalities in Colorado. Of those six deaths, three were on snowshoes, two were skiing and one was snowboarding.
