A backcountry skier who caused an avalanche in a Whistler Cliffs snow chute near Interstate 70 and the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels was partly trapped and injured in the snowslide on April 30.
The skier triggered the avalanche close to the Whistler Cliffs area south of Coon Hill in a snow chute — a steep and narrow gully on a mountainside between two rock walls — according to a field report from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
The snowslide gained speed and mass as it ran through the chute, catching the skier from behind, the report said.
Before the avalanche, the skier was descending an open area above the chute on the mountainside, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center said. He found a patch of wind-drifted snow that was not wet in the bowl and decided to travel further into the chute.
As the snow knocked him over, the man ended up on top of the debris except for his lower legs, which were still attached to his skis, the center said in the report. He dug himself out, skied to his car and drove to get medical care for an arm injury.
The man reported the avalanche to Summit County dispatch so search and rescue teams didn’t have to initiate a response.
Four avalanches have been triggered in Summit County so far in May, according to Colorado Avalanche Information Center records. Two of the snowslides were triggered by backcountry recreationists.
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