Avalanche conditions called 'tricky'

Joe Garner, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 16, 2006 at midnight

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Avalanche conditions in the Colorado Rockies are "tricky" in the wake of this week's heavy snow, the director of the state avalanche forecasting center warned today.

"The snow that fell last month sat on the ground and then began to rot or weaken, which wouldn’t be a problem without the new snow overloading the old snow," said Ethan Greene, who heads the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, based in Boulder.

The result is that the rotten layer of early snow makes an unstable base for the fresh snow.

In the central- and northern Rockies, where most Denver residents play, steep slopes "on the east side of the compass" where winds have drifted the snow are the riskiest, Greene said.

"Some places you can go with no problem," he said, "but, there also are places that are very sensitive."

He said back-country conditions are not unusual for mid-November.

Greene also cautioned that back-country enthusiasts should always go with a partner and carry a rescue beacon, a shovel and a probe pole.

"Cell phones are good, but, if you’re caught in an avalanche, you don’t have time to call for help," Greene said. "You have only 15 minutes to rescue someone alive from an avalanche."

Besides the avalanche forecasters' main office in Boulder, the center will have six offices in operation for winter 2006-07, including a new site in Ophir in southwest Colorado. The other sites are the Eisenhower Tunnel, Breckenridge, Marble, Silverton and Pagosa Springs.

"Routt County is the next place we would like to have an office," Greene said. "The best-case scenario is that we could open it next year."

Beginning in December, the forecasters plan to divide the state into 10 zones to make their daily advisories more specific, he said. In the past, advisories have divided Colorado into only three regions, the southern-, central- and northern mountains.

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