Avalanche San Juans- The Nose

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Bombay2Boulder
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Avalanche San Juans- The Nose

Post by Bombay2Boulder »

Got this from CAIC this morning, hoping for a positive outcome-
On February 1, 2021, a group of backcountry skiers triggered a large avalanche between the towns of Silverton and Ophir. They were traveling in an area locally known as The Nose. Four people were caught, carried, and fully buried in the debris. The group recovered one person with minor injuries. The other three people are still missing. Search and rescue operations lasted into the night and will continue this morning. The avalanche released on a northeast-facing slope near 11,500 feet (near treeline). The backcountry avalanche danger is Considerable (Level 3) in most of Colorado's Central and Southern Mountains.
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Re: Avalanche San Juans- The Nose

Post by SkaredShtles »

3 unrecovered as of yet? This is terrible news...

ETA: Sounds like 3 more fatalities for Colorado. :(
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Re: Avalanche San Juans- The Nose

Post by Wentzl »

They are calling it a "recovery" not a "rescue" mission.

https://coloradosun.com/2021/02/02/eagl ... phir-pass/
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Re: Avalanche San Juans- The Nose

Post by Jorts »

CaptCO wrote: Tue Feb 02, 2021 7:10 pm 14ers people are so nosy
The consummate troll looking to elicit objections.
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Re: Avalanche San Juans- The Nose

Post by Barnold41 »

https://www.vaildaily.com/news/eagle-va ... silverton/

This is going to be felt for a long time around our community. I personally knew one of the guys and worked with his wife for a long time, and now I am teaching one of their children. Didn't get much sleep last night. He was an amazing man, husband, father, musician, and so much more. My heart goes out to their families.
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Re: Avalanche San Juans- The Nose

Post by Jorts »

Condolences to friends and family. This is truly devastating.
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Re: Avalanche San Juans- The Nose

Post by HikerGuy »

From the photo in the story below, it looks like they were swept into, or skied into, a serious terrain trap. So sad.

https://www.vaildaily.com/news/eagle-va ... silverton/
Last edited by HikerGuy on Wed Feb 03, 2021 4:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Avalanche San Juans- The Nose

Post by Chicago Transplant »

I held off on posting for a while, but have been following this since early yesterday as I know two of the guys who died from my work on a local committee. The men who died were very involved in the local community, and the void they leave will be incredibly difficult to fill. I didn't know them as well as others, and my heart goes out to the entire community and especially those who knew and loved them best.
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Re: Avalanche San Juans- The Nose

Post by spoony »

More info: https://coloradosun.com/2021/02/03/3-ki ... dentified/

Condolences to those who knew the victims and kudos to SAR.
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Re: Avalanche San Juans- The Nose

Post by Carl_Healy »

San Juan County Office of Emergency Management also had a recent Facebook Post/Press Release.

Very sad.

The photos contained within are particularly distressing. Burial in 20+ ft of snow I can't imagine the effort it took the SAR teams to dig that tunnel into the snow for recovery.
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Re: Avalanche San Juans- The Nose

Post by bmcqueen »

Very sad. My condolences to their families and friends.
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Re: Avalanche San Juans- The Nose

Post by mountainrev »

I lived in Eagle for over 20 years. Moved about 4 years ago. I didn't know Andy Jessen, who started and co-owned Bonfire Brewing, personally, but spoke to him often when I visited the brewery. He was a fixture in the community, as was (is) his brewery. This will have a deep and long-lasting impact on that community. There are links to three separate Go Fund Mes in this Vail Daily article, if anyone is interested: https://www.vaildaily.com/news/eagle-va ... e-victims/
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