On February 17th, a snowmobiler was caught in an avalanche near Vail Pass in Colorado.
Around noon, a group of two were sledding on Shrine Mountain, just west of Vail Pass when one of the riders triggered and was caught and buried in an avalanche. The other rider attempted to use his avalanche transceiver to locate his partner, but did not get a signal from the other beacon. He then called 911 for help finding the buried snowmobiler.
Tap or click to watch the video below. Keep reading for more information.
Summit County Sheriff's Deputies and Summit County Rescue Group responded to the scene of the avalanche.
While walking across the debris field, one of the responders noticed the corner of an avalanche airbag poking out from debris. With help from rescuers, the second rider was able to dig out his partner from the snow after about an hour.
The buried snowmobiler was awake and talking once extracted, but very cold after being buried for so long and was transported to the hospital for evaluation.
At the time of the incident, the avalanche danger was rated as High near and above treeline for the area, and Considerable below treeline. An avalanche warning had been issued by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center for the Summit County area. Heavy snow and strong winds had created dangerous avalanche conditions for much of the area and CAIC warned that large avalanches would be easy to trigger.
CAIC also shared images via social media showing recent avalanches to illustrate Colorado's current avalanche danger. Although the images weren't taken particularly close to Vail Pass, they were still indicative of problems in the snowpack throughout the state that could have massive consequences if triggered.
When traveling in the backcountry, its important to always carry a beacon, probe, and shovel and have a proper understanding of how to use your equipment and the current avalanche forecast. An airbag is never a bad idea and might have saved this snowmobiler's life.
