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Avalanches cause 10 deaths in last 10 days

Avalanche forecasters Spencer Logan, left, and Mike Cooperstein within their office at the Colorado Avalanche Information Center at National Weather Service in Boulder. So far, 10 people have died in avalanches across the West in the last 10 days, making this month the deadliest January for slides in nearly 20 years.

DENVER – Ten people have died in avalanches across the West in the last 10 days, making this month the deadliest January for slides in nearly 20 years.

Eleven people have died in slides throughout the whole month, including four over the weekend, for a total of 14 so far this snow season, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, which tracks slides across the country.

On Sunday, one person was killed and another was injured in Washington state in an avalanche near the Mount Baker ski area, and two skiers died in Wyoming after being caught in a slide just outside the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in a popular place for out-of-bounds skiing. A third skier who was trapped survived.

In Montana on Saturday, one of three snowmobilers riding in the Whitefish Mountains near Olney was killed after being buried.

The most common types of avalanches and reasons for them differ somewhat between the Pacific Northwest, where larger snowstorms followed by rain are common, and the Rockies, where weak layers of snow hardened by cold and dry weather can give out deep within the snowpack. However, experts say that seemingly small changes in conditions can make a big difference in risk, and that a long period without fatalities, can give backcountry users a false sense of security.

January is often a time when those weak layers can cause problems in the Rockies. In parts of Colorado, where two people have died in avalanches in different parts of the state this month, the top layer of snow sat around for a while in dry, cold weather becoming sugary and unable to adhere with the snow that eventually fell on top, said Spencer Logan, a forecaster with the state’s avalanche center.

“It’s the kind of recipe that’s just waiting for someone to find the wrong spot and trigger an avalanche,” said Logan.



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