Locals braved the roads Tuesday night – despite a “considerable” risk of avalanche, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center – to attend an Avalanche Information Center fundraiser at the Durango Discovery Museum.
The Avalanche Information Center, which provides life-saving information and predictions about avalanches, has been cash-strapped since losing severance-tax funding in 2011.
Last year, avalanches killed 24 people nationally, and 11 people in Colorado, including Durango’s Peter Carver, who was 23.
Aaron Carlson, executive director of Friends of CAIC, said “one-third of U.S. avalanche fatalities take place in Colorado annually, and more people are killed by avalanches in Colorado than by any other natural hazard.”
Though the Avalanche Information Center’s work – monitoring and providing daily updates on the 2,500 avalanches that occur throughout the state every year – is vital, it has to panhandle to cover its $1 million operating budget.
Carlson said it cost $35,000 to have a full-time forecaster in each of the state’s 10 avalanche zones, and the Colorado Department of Transportation only foots about half the Avalanche Information Center’s bills.
“So events like this are important to the Avalanche Center and what we’re trying to do,” Carlson said.
It was too soon to tell at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday whether the fundraiser was making it rain, but the forecast looked promising.
Donors milled about the Discovery Museum, beers in hand, betting on silent-auction items, including kayaking trips for two and a series of outdoor backpacks so technologically convoluted one expected the disclaimer, “rockets sold separately.”
Nick Martin, marketing manager for Pine Needle Mountaineering, which sponsored the event, said the priciest items were skis ($500 a pair), avalanche courses that retail for $350 and Powdercats trips through Silverton’s mountains that run $350 each.
Martin said he didn’t know how much money the fundraiser cost, saying most things had been donated.
“It was mostly man-hours. I did a lot of the organizing, and I don’t make a lot of money, so it can’t be that expensive” he said, grinning.
When it came to weather, the fundraising dynamic was delightfully perverse.
While the Avalanche Information Center provides information to Coloradans who hope to avoid snowy deaths, Martin relished the threat of a blizzard, which seemed credible Tuesday afternoon, as beastly winds and wretched frosts bested even the staunchest down jackets.
“Last year, it was such a poor turnout because the weather was too good – it was about 70 degrees. But snow is definitely going to help with attendance tonight,” he said.
Martin said he hoped about 200 people would come. Because Wagon Wheel Liquor donated the wine, Ska Brewing and Carver’s donated the beer, and Zia Tacqueria gifted the food, Martin said it was possible they’d raise $5,000.
“It’s a huge community event, and obviously, it’s an issue that affects our community, and the Avalanche Center specifically needs funding for the San Juan region,” he said.
cmcallister@durangoherald.com
