MONARCH — Colorado ski resorts see thousands of visitors every day during the winter. People from all over the state, country and world will ride up the chair lift to catch some fresh power or take a run down smooth corduroy.
Many adventures are chasing steeper lines and less crowds, so they turn to the backcountry.
One danger for skiers and snowboarders in the high country is avalanches. According to The Colorado Avalanche Information Center, so far this season, six people have been caught in avalanches. two of those people were killed. One of those was a skier caught near Crested Butte and the other was a snowboarder near Telluride.
Over the last five years, the 2020-21 season was the deadliest. Twenty people were caught in avalanches that season and twelve of those people were killed.
On Thursday News5 spoke with Ski Patrol at Monarch Mountain to learn more about avalanche safety. They said typically avalanche deaths happen outside of the ski area boundary.
Monarch has three gates skiers can use to access the backcountry. Brandon Slate, better known as “Snake,” is a member of the ski patrol at Monarch Mountain. he's also a backcountry guide.
Snake said the snow in the backcountry is unpatrolled and uncontrolled.
He said skiers and snowboarders must be prepared with the right equipment and knowledge before going into the backcountry, and that they should never go into the backcountry alone.
"Basically, I love snowboarding and love of pow eventually leads you out of the gates I guess and into the backcountry to get better turns," Snake said. "I also like the solitude of the backcountry to get away from the crowds."
He said Colorado's mountain snowpack is the deadliest in the country. According to Snake the majority of avalanche fatalities are caused by trauma not suffocation.
"Anytime you're stepping outside of the gate you wanna proceed with caution," Snake said.
Snake emphasized it is important to be trained, saying an avalanche safety course is a strong option.
"Get some avalanche education or at least find a really good mentor that is willing to take you out,” Snake said.
Make sure to have the proper equipment.
"Beacon, shovel, probe and communication device and we are seeing more air packs being used," Snake said.
He wants to remind people to go with a good group of skiers or snowboarders.
"Make sure you're with a group that you can communicate well with. You have similar goals for the day and you have hopefully practiced rescue as well,” Snake said.
Being situated along the Continental Divide, Snake said the weather on Monarch Mountain is often cold and windy.
"We don't see warming trends. We don't get out the pile up of wet snow like you're doing a maritime snowpack and so the cold temps just cause that weak layer to persist,” Snake said.
He said that persistent weak layers of snow become dangerous as new snow piles up on top of it. Skiers or snowboarders can trigger an avalanche by putting pressure on the weak layers causing them to crack and then slide.
"The Colorado Avalanche Information Center is out there daily around the state, digging pits, checking weather patterns, checking in with ski patrols and they're keeping a pretty good tab on when these layers exist in the snow pack and they're gonna let you know and just trust them,” Snake said.
People can check danger reports from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center on their website or app.
Back in bounds, ski patrol monitors which slopes could potentially slide, one of their techniques is using bombs.
"Explosives are an incredible tool that we get to use in the inbound terrain because it puts such a massive shockwave through the snowpack without a patroller or a human having to be on it,” Snake said.
Ski patrol said they will typically throw bombs after it snows more than 6 inches.
"If we do think it's going to produce a slide big enough to bury somebody then we will certainly use explosives for that,” Snake said.
He said explosives are great tools to use for safety in bounds, but out of bounds, in the backcountry, it's all-natural, nothing is packed down or monitored extensively by patrol.
“There are a lot of ways to recreate in the backcountry well, and have a lot of fun while exposing yourself to very minimal danger. You just have to make the right decision,” Snake said.
He said sometimes you have to wait for the right days and conditions to ski the big lines. He admits sometimes it can be tempting to ski a certain shot, but he said stick with your plan and your training,
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