Near Record Heat Combined With Above Average Snowpack Sets The Stage For Avalanches

SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- As the weather starts to heat up in Colorado, there are concerns about avalanches in the High Country. Most of the state has an above average snowpack.

Now, near record heat is setting the stage for snow slides like the fresh one seen on Buffalo Mountain on Wednesday.

Considerable avalanche danger is expected to last through Friday.

"If you get up there and you find yourself sinking almost to your boot top in the snow," said Charles Pitman with Summit County Rescue Group, "it might be time to rethink what it is you are going to do for the day."

A backcountry skier caught in an avalanche on Mount Emmons in Gunnison County died on Tuesday. That is the sixth death in an avalanche in Colorado this season.