High Winds Increase Avalanche Danger Across Parts Of Colorado

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EAGLE COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - Officials are warning of increased avalanche danger across parts of Colorado due to high winds. At least a dozen people have died in avalanches this season, tying the winter of 1992-93 for the most recreational avalanche deaths in Colorado.

Last Monday, two sidecountry skiers were caught in an avalanche south of Edwards. The avalanche carried one of the skiers down a chute and over a cliff at Lime Creek, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. The skier was fully buried and did not survive.

A stock photo of Sanctuary Chute (credit: Colorado Avalanche Information Center)

The CAIC reports considerable danger above the treeline in the Front Range and Vail/Summit backcountry zones. The danger is most pronounced in drifted slopes that face north, east and southeast.

"Noticeably this overlaps with the persistent slab problem where the incremental loading due to recent storms and the wind deposition is stressing deeper buried weak layers," stated CAIC.

Avalanche danger is moderate in the Central and Southern Mountains with the potential for humans triggering a life-threatening slab. Officials recommend patience and careful terrain management.

For more information about avalanche danger in Colorado, visit avalanche.state.co.us.