Colorado avalanche forecaster buried in almost a half-ton of snow

Rogelio Mares
·2 min read

EVERGREEN, Colo. (KDVR) — On Monday, a call was placed for an avalanche rescue in the Colorado high country.

It was the 25th call this year to the Alpine Rescue Team, but this call was rare.

Why? It was a call to rescue an avalanche forecaster with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

“The first people there, they get their shovels out and they start digging,” said Dale Atkins, who was part of the Alpine Rescue Team crew who helped save the forecaster from under the snow.

“In this case, it could have approached almost a half a ton worth of snow that they had to scoop out of the way,” Atkins said.

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The forecaster was pinned against a tree, according to Atkins.

“If you’re carried down in an avalanche, no matter how far you go, and you hit a tree, it’s like somebody swinging a baseball bat at you,” Atkins said.

Crews from Alpine Rescue Team tend to an avalanche forecaster at night
Crews from Alpine Rescue Team tend to an avalanche forecaster at night

Brian Lazar, with CAIC, said forecasters frequently work in the field.

“So as an operation, we have somebody in the field somewhere in the state pretty much every day,” Lazar said.

Forecasters are in the field two to four days a week depending on avalanche conditions. As often as they are in the field, it is rare for a forecaster to be caught in an actual avalanche.

“This is the first case in which an avalanche forecaster’s been caught in an avalanche requiring outside support from search and rescue,” Lazar said.

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Forecasters have to follow protocols when they are tracking avalanche conditions, but CAIC maintains the risk for danger is never zero.

“They need an avalanche transceiver, a shovel, a probe. They carry with them a satellite communication device, which was crucial in this particular instance,” Lazar said.

It was a successful operation for Alpine Rescue Team, one that hit close to home.

“This is kind of like a brother who’s out there, and we want to get to him and take care of him and get him down the mountainside as quickly and as safely as we can,” Atkins said.

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The forecaster is doing well now. CAIC said he suffered minor injuries to his leg from being pinned against a tree under the snow.

CAIC said they continue to forecast avalanches, which typically continues until the snow is gone.

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