Fatal Avalanche on west side of Hoosier Pass

[Jorts]

Two snowshoers and their dog were caught and buried by a 400ft wide, 200 ft vertical avalanche on Hoosier Pass yesterday not far from the turnoff. On caltopo, this terrain appears rather innocuous. Anyone peak bagging and hiking this winter please remain avy aware leaving wide safety margins.

Sincere condolences to their friends and family. Sorry for your loss.

https://avalanche.state.co.us/caic/acc/ ... acc_id=801

[Scott P]

Condolences.

[MonGoose]

Sad to hear this news and my condolences. Here's a photo of the avalanche from the initial CAIC report.

They were likely members of our community.

[jasayrevt]

I am sorry reading of this. Rest-in-peace, fallen outdoor enthusiasts. Positive prayers and sincerest sentiments to family and friends.

Please stay safe when exploring these places, all.

[SkaredShtles]

Man... such an innocuous looking area.

RIP

[planet54]

The snowshoers have been identified. So sad RIP

https://www.summitdaily.com/news/crime/ ... sier-pass/

[jbealer]

this is such sad news, the slope angles make it look not the worst ever, but i also know you do not take the summer trail in winter and that slope also does not look any worse if you are just looking at caltopo. a group of us turned around a few weeks ago on Gyout because of concern and i think that is how this season is going to play out. Take a class, study maps and read reports, the more you know the safer you can be, but even all that is not a guarantee.
Stay safe everyone

[HikerGuy]

Ugh, just devastating. Condolences to their friends and family.

re: Caltopo and slope angle - just a reminder that Caltopo slope angle shading is not terribly precise and its use in route planning was a factor in the Red Mountain Pass avalanche. Go to the Assessing and Managing Slope Angle section of the report for details and view Figure 19 in the photos section for comparison of Caltopo 10m DEM vs. LiDAR 3m DEM slope angle differences.

[TomPierce]

Man... such an innocuous looking area.

RIP

Nothing to be proud of, but my partner and I set off an avalanche in that exact spot about 20-22 years ago. We were descending the ridge in a whiteout and drifted into that terrain. As we dropped down the slope the angle progressively steepened. We felt and heard a whoomph, saw some sliding start, but then stop. We immediately went back up the ridge, traversed a bit and then down to our cars. Only when back at the cars did the clouds part and allow us to see that the slope had slid, and it looked exactly like the photo above. Sobering.

To your point, Skared, we too thought it looked like a really innocuous area. Scary. RIP to the folks involved, sad for sure.

-Tom

[Jay521]

Echoing Tom's post - About 20 years ago, a partner and I were snowshoeing well below that slope when it gave. Turned out it wasn't quite as "well below" as we should have been. We started running as fast as we could - which wasn't all that fast in snowshoes. The very tippy-toe of it caught me and covered my snowshoes and feet to just above my ankles and locked me in place. My forward inertia caused an instant face plant. Fortunately, it was literally the end of the runout and no more avy debris came. Needless to say that like Tom, I'm not all that proud of it either. Lesson learned (hopefully) and now I give that sort of slope a much wider berth. I never was able to determine why the slope gave. Just Mother Nature I guess as we were the only two in the area that day.

[Jorts]

To your point, Skared, we too thought it looked like a really innocuous area.

I never was able to determine why the slope gave. Just Mother Nature I guess as we were the only two in the area that day.

Thanks for sharing Tom and Jay. That slope's a repeat offender. The topography lends itself to heavy wind loading and the convexity right there makes it really prone to sudden collapse.

More on convexities and avalanches:
https://avalanche.org/avalanche-encyclo ... vex-slope/

[SkaredShtles]

Reminiscent of the slide up on Guanella a number of years ago: https://www.avalanche.state.co.us/caic/ ... t=19971230