43min | Documentary, Action, Adventure, Sport | Video
Explore Colorado's unique snow avalanche problem and the professionals who deal with it. You'll meet avalanche forecasters, ski patrollers, ski guides, and special forces soldiers who tune in to the mountain environment to stay alive in avalanche terrain.
Director: Adam Babcock
Writer: Adam Babcock
Star: Adam Babcock
Explore Colorado's unique snow avalanche problem and the professionals who deal with it. You'll meet avalanche forecasters, ski patrollers, ski guides, and special forces soldiers who tune in to the mountain environment to stay alive in avalanche terrain.
Director: Adam Babcock
Writer: Adam Babcock
Star: Adam Babcock
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Sometimes it wakes me up during the middle of the night thinking about what the consequences
00:23might be if you make a mistake.
00:40As serenely beautiful as it is in winter, Colorado has an avalanche problem.
00:47Since 1950, Colorado has led the nation with 224 avalanche fatalities.
00:53The next closest state is Alaska with 124.
00:57Today, Colorado still leads the nation with an average of 6 fatalities per year.
01:04Several factors including climate, snowpack, terrain, access, and population set Colorado
01:12apart from other avalanche contenders like Alaska and Utah.
01:17Compounding the problem are risky behaviors that are becoming ever more common in the backcountry.
01:29Avalanche terrain used to be something to avoid, now we seek it out.
01:41I'm Adam Babcock.
01:43For the past 14 years, I've been a mountain guide, ski patroller, and wildland firefighter
01:48in the western U.S. and Alaska.
01:52From the start of my outdoor career, snow and avalanches captured my interest more than
01:56any other pursuit, and Colorado is where it all began.
02:01In my second year of studying snow, an avalanche killed a friend of mine at one of our favorite
02:05backcountry stashes in northern Colorado.
02:08The slide was relatively small, yet he died almost instantly from traumatic injuries.
02:15Years later, I experienced firsthand the power of moving snow.
02:19I triggered a slab avalanche and got caught and tumbled for about 100 yards before the
02:23flow came to rest.
02:25The debris set up instantly, trapping my legs with a cement-like grip.
02:30These incidents tarnished my powderhound innocence.
02:34How do any of us stack the odds in our favor so we don't lose our family or friends?
02:40To find out, we'll take you on a journey across Colorado to meet a cadre of avalanche professionals
02:46who work in avalanche terrain on a daily basis.
02:52They stay safe by tuning in to the mountains and making sound decisions based on years
02:57of experience.
02:59One of the first groups tuned in to Colorado's avalanche problem was the U.S. Forest Service.
03:04In 1973, the agency launched the first avalanche center in the nation, the Avalanche Warning
03:11Program.
03:12Originally based in Fort Collins, that program has evolved into the Colorado Avalanche Information
03:18Center located in Boulder.
03:21In my early years of studying snow and calling the CAIC avalanche hotline, one raspy voice
03:27imprinted itself in my memory.
03:29That voice belongs to the man who had guided the CAIC through its nascent struggle for
03:34survival.
03:35It's the voice of Knox Williams.
03:38When I came on in the year 1970, I didn't know anything.
03:43And I would have to attribute almost all of my knowledge, as far as avalanche prediction,
03:50to Art Judson, because he's the one who had the vision that with enough data and people
03:56looking at avalanches, feeding information into a central office, that avalanches could
04:02be predicted.
04:04And so he started, in the year 1973, the first avalanche warning program in the U.S.
04:10It was his concept, and then he hired Knox to be the forecaster.
04:18And I took that program over a few years later, in the mid-1970s.
04:24Because we were researchers, we were very cognizant of safety.
04:30So we were not doing a whole lot of skiing for skiing's sake.
04:36We would ski to the study site.
04:38So we were skiing a lot to get from point A to point B. We were digging snow pits on
04:44all aspects.
04:46And also, people weren't skiing then like they are now.
04:50I mean, you go down to the San Juans and every avalanche path is skied, and sometimes bumped.
04:55And when we were there, there was one other pair of cross-country skis in Silverton.
05:01Just the amount of backcountry usage has meant that the number of people who are needing
05:07avalanche forecasting just really, really grew.
05:10There is a lot more interest in being in the backcountry than there was 30 years ago.
05:15And that has steadily increased over time.
05:20Since the year 2000, Colorado's population has grown by almost 15%.
05:30Combine this rapid growth with a strong culture of outdoor adventure, and you've got plenty
05:34of avalanche triggers waiting to happen.
05:40How are Colorado's climate and snowpack different from other avalanche contenders like Alaska
05:44and Utah?
05:46And what is an avalanche forecast anyway?
05:49These are the questions on my mind as I head to the CAIC main office in Boulder.
05:54The drive down out of the mountains is dark.
05:57Forecasters start their day well before dawn.
06:00They brave the witching hours of the night to begin their work.
06:03Morning.
06:04Morning.
06:05We're here to go to the CAIC weather service.
06:11This morning, Dr. John Snook is on duty.
06:16He's got his Ph.D. in atmospheric science, and when he's not glued to a weather monitor,
06:21he patrols at Arapahoe Basin's ski area.
06:26His mind is always at work, distilling meaningful information from chaotic systems.
06:31We really need to get the backcountry users to understand what's unique about our continental
06:38Colorado snowpack so that they understand that this can be a dangerous snowpack.
06:44Data is important to forecasters because it determines the type of snowpack we get,
06:49which affects avalanche behavior.
06:52Colorado sets the example for a cold continental climate.
06:58What that means is that we're very far away from the nearest body of water.
07:02We're about 1,000 miles away from the Pacific Ocean, and at least that far away from the
07:06Gulf of Mexico.
07:08So what we get with a continental snowpack is we typically have a shallower snowpack.
07:13We don't get as much snow because the moisture source is so far away.
07:18What that means is when we have a shallower snowpack, well if it's very cold up here at
07:22the top of the snowpack and relatively warm at the bottom of the snowpack, but the snowpack
07:27itself is very shallow, that means we have a big change in temperature through that snowpack.
07:34This temperature gradient drives a metamorphic process called faceting.
07:38This process creates angular grains of snow that do not form strong bonds.
07:42Depth IV is another name for it.
07:46Sugar snow is a common name used out in the backcountry.
07:50But this snow is cohesionless.
07:52It's almost like, well it's like sugar, almost like ball bearings, it doesn't bond together.
07:59The continental climate tends to create and preserve this type of snow, which is the crux
08:04of Colorado's avalanche problem.
08:06There are persistent weaknesses in the snowpack.
08:12These weak layers can last for months and become problems when trapped between slabs
08:16of snow.
08:19Triggering slab avalanches weeks after a storm is highly possible in Colorado, but much less
08:24common in coastal mountains.
08:26And you end up getting this kind of sandwich or layer cake of different layers within that
08:34snowpack.
08:35It's that whole combination that can create a dangerous situation.
08:42An avalanche forecast is a prediction of the likelihood of avalanches.
08:47It sounds simple, but it's surprisingly difficult to achieve.
08:51CAIC forecasters collect weather and snowpack data from around the state, integrate that
08:57information, tailor it to elevation and aspect, and project it in the form of a cogent statement
09:03about avalanche danger.
09:05In fact, they produce 10 different forecasts that cover the northern, central, and southern
09:09mountains.
09:11Multitasking is an understatement.
09:14The avalanche danger for the front rain zone is considerable on northeast, east, southeast,
09:19and south aspects near and above treeline.
09:21Human-triggered avalanches are probable in these areas.
09:24Elsewhere and below treeline, the danger is moderate.
09:27This message will be updated tomorrow morning, and have a safe day in the backcountry.
09:35If you come here to Colorado, we get all these different layers in there, and it's
10:00important to understand that, that even though we have less snow, it's much easier to get
10:05that snow in a slide.
10:08Armed with Dr. Snook's forecast and his caution that we use it only to inform our own assessment,
10:14we head to Loveland Pass.
10:16There, we'll meet up with Shelly Grail, U.S. Forest Service snow ranger, and an old friend
10:21and mentor, Tim Shin.
10:26Tim was a ski patroller and heliski guide in Colorado and New Zealand for over 30 years.
10:31The demands placed on him by decades of physical hardship while managing diabetes have made
10:36him extremely disciplined.
10:39For several years, he lived above treeline with no running water, forcing him to take
10:43showers outside on the deck.
10:46It wasn't his tongue he had to worry about freezing to the metal railing.
10:51Tim and Shelly and I have our sights set on one of the most notorious avalanche paths
10:55in Colorado, the Professor.
10:57Well, our plan was to try and get up onto the Professor, a big slide path that drops
11:04down onto Highway 6, and see if we could get in and have a look at the snow, see what the
11:10snow pack conditions were.
11:13Our intended plan of the Professor was to tour out there and ski some epic powder conditions.
11:21It's an easy hike from the car, but this easy access comes with a price.
11:26Summit and Clear Creek Counties, which straddle the pass, rank in the top three for producing
11:31avalanche fatalities in Colorado, and this is just one of a dozen mountain passes that
11:36deliver skiers to high altitude.
11:39Such easy access to big terrain is unparalleled anywhere in the U.S.
11:47We do a quick beacon check and head for the ridge.
11:55Each of us carries the standard rescue equipment, beacon, shovel, and probe.
11:59Self-rescue is imperative in the backcountry.
12:02It usually takes too long to summon help to effect a live rescue of an avalanche victim.
12:09We got up there and we had a little bit of sun and clouds, and then the clouds started
12:16rolling in in earnest, and the winds really picked up.
12:19The wind continued to pick up, and one of the key concerns of mine was the visibility.
12:24We had very poor visibility.
12:26There was a time when Tim and Adam went ahead of me about 50 feet or so, and I had no idea
12:31where they were.
12:32I couldn't see them at all.
12:33And before long we were dealing with very limited visibility and some whiteout conditions.
12:38One thing I really like to have when I'm in the backcountry with partners is to be able
12:43to see them.
12:44Just in case an avalanche occurs, somebody falls and gets hurt, who knows, but it's always
12:48good to have them in eyesight, and we didn't have that.
12:51The creep and glide that goes on all season is causing this whole cornice feature here
12:57to pull away from the rock.
12:58From what we've seen so far, we know we want to stay away from it right now.
13:03Yep.
13:04If we drop down into that crack, we'd have a hard time getting out of it.
13:09It'd become a rescue scenario.
13:13At that point we decided that with such limited visibility, heavy wind transport and wind
13:21loading, that we would make our way back, so we turned around.
13:26Along the way we encountered cornice crevasses, heavy wind loading, and all the signs that
13:31made us feel pretty comfortable in retreating and not skiing the professor.
13:38Over the years, Tim has impressed on me that every decision you make in the backcountry
13:42can put the whole group at risk.
13:46If somebody has a concern, or they're not comfortable with something, that's the time
13:50to speak up.
13:51It can take more courage to decide not to go and turn back when things like peer pressure
14:01are involved than it does to just jump right in and go down it.
14:06It's up to you to know what's out there and to know what to do when you're in avalanche
14:09terrain.
14:10It's not just for your safety, but for the safety of your friends and your family as
14:13well.
14:18The potential consequences of making the wrong decision were made clear in 1986 when the
14:23professor ran big.
14:26A control team triggered the slide during a major avalanche cycle.
14:31It jumped U.S. Highway 6, blasted across A-Basin's parking lot, and smashed into a chairlift
14:37terminal.
14:38The several-ton machine had to be replaced, underscoring the destructive power of moving
14:43snow.
14:44No one was injured because the control teams had closed the highway and cleared all personnel
14:49to safe locations.
14:51A-Basin itself has no shortage of inbounds avalanche terrain, including the craggy east
14:56wall, steep chutes of polychair, and recently added Montezuma Bowl.
15:04It's only through the dedicated efforts of the A-Basin Patrol that safely skiing here
15:08is even an option for their guests.
15:11Doing these hand routes is really our way of testing the snow to make sure the pack
15:17is safe for the public.
15:19We want to put ourselves in harm's way first.
15:23Heading up the snow safety program is Leif Borgeson, the very embodiment of his Scandinavian
15:28name.
15:29He's full bearded and tough, a true-blood Viking.
15:33He and his dog, Toy, are an institution at A-Basin.
15:42Leif leads the discussion for this morning's control teams.
15:46Maximum winds were at 1,500 yesterday.
15:49Fifty-three mile an hour was the one-hour average.
15:52I don't hesitate to at least test that snow pack on end zone and elephant strut.
15:58Okay?
15:5910-4.
16:00Alright.
16:01Well, that seems like a good opening round to me.
16:05For patrollers and guest safety, avalanche control work follows a definite progression.
16:10First, patrollers test the snow pack with explosives deployed from safe locations.
16:15Arrows down, tins pulled.
16:18Fire.
16:23Fire.
16:25When consequences are low enough, they follow up with extensive ski cutting.
16:30When the signs point toward safety, patrollers welcome skiers and riders to the controlled
16:35avalanche pads.
16:36It looks like it's really stable.
16:38Nothing's moving, nothing's cracking.
16:41It's supporting the skiers.
16:42Then we'd be happy to let them have it.
16:47Clear traffic further stabilizes slopes by compacting the snow, promoting bonding, and
16:53disrupting the integrity of slabs and weak layers.
16:56It's all tied together by ongoing assessment of snowpack and weather conditions.
17:04It's a class A avalanche area.
17:07Probably thousands of small avalanches at a basin in a single season.
17:11It's hard to get bored with a backpack full of bombs walking around at 13,000 feet in
17:16avalanche terrain.
17:27A basin, like many other ski areas, maintains an avalanche rescue dog program.
17:32The dogs and their handlers practice rapidly deploying to backcountry incidents.
17:37If a buried skier is not wearing a beacon, their only chance for survival may be the
17:42keen nose of a highly trained dog, and rapid delivery of that nose by helicopter.
17:52Watching a rescue dog in action harkens back to the days of skiing's beginnings.
17:57A basin opened in 1946, and it opened by five founding fathers, and a lot of those people
18:03were from the 10th Mountain Division, so they served in the war, and after the war they
18:07came here and they opened this great ski area.
18:10To understand where A basin's founding fathers came from, let's head over to Camp Hale,
18:15where the 10th Mountain Division trained during World War II.
18:19There we'll meet up with the modern special forces group that is today's equivalent of
18:23those legendary mountain warriors.
18:43We're out here doing our cold weather training for the year.
19:01We've covered, so far, avalanche training, to include avalanche prediction, as well as
19:11avalanche rescue.
19:13Dejoring snowmobiling, emergency shelters, and a cold weather environment.
19:19We're in Colorado now.
19:22We focus more on avalanche safety here than really anywhere, mainly because of the danger
19:31that they have here.
19:32We have these Fritchie free ride bindings, and then the Garmont G-Lite boots that are
19:38pretty much standard with everybody.
19:42When we're moving across this type of terrain, just in order to slim down and take a little
19:48bit of the weight off, we'll just go to this rack right here.
19:51Mostly water, ammo, and first aid.
19:56It's really bare bones.
19:58How much does all this weigh?
20:0055 or 60 pounds.
20:15Today we're finishing up our more advanced avalanche training, skiing in terrain like
20:21this that you see behind me.
20:24We generally try to avoid that kind of terrain, but there are times where that terrain is
20:31unavoidable.
20:32In that instance, it's critical for us to be able to analyze the snowpack and find out
20:38if that snowpack is safe for us to cross.
20:42If it is, then of course we're going to continue on.
20:45If not, we're going to either find an alternate route or switch up our travel techniques,
20:52perhaps travel one at a time to spread out whatever it's going to take to get us across.
21:04We spend a lot of time in different places, but this is really where we live.
21:09Being on a special forces team is unlike any other job in the world.
21:15The camaraderie that we share amongst our teammates is unlike any that you'll find at
21:20any other workplace.
21:22As a mountain team, it's important for us to be out here in this type of environment,
21:29in the snow, in the mountains, doing what it is we do best.
21:33We're a tight-knit bunch of guys, and it's one of the biggest reasons why we would never
21:37ever want to see someone get hurt or killed in an avalanche when it could have easily
21:42been avoided.
21:44Leavin' with the Saint D'Esses
21:52Cemetery's got all those things, but you can't change me
21:56With gratitude in our hearts for service members past and present, we follow the trail of the
22:0110th Mountain Division to one of their historic proving grounds, Chicago Ridge at Ski Cooper.
22:07There, we'll meet up with ski guides John Clawson and Adam Brown, two of the best in
22:12the business.
22:13John's intuitive sense of snow complements Adam's scientific approach.
22:18In the cat, it's all laughs and very relaxed, but when it's go time, they're both on their
22:23game.
22:24This morning, it's dumping snow, and John and Adam have agreed to take us on a control
22:31route.
22:32They assure us gratuitous powder skiing, but before we drop in, there's work to do.
22:39John and Adam have to dig out the cache and assemble explosives for the morning's control
22:43routes.
22:44Today, they make up standard fare PETN cast primers, along with a couple jugs of antho,
22:50to give the recently loaded snow pack an extra heavy thump.
22:55We load up in the cat and head to the ridge for our first pass.
22:59Approaching the top of our first run, John and Adam notice a fresh crack in the snow.
23:04It's a fracture that we likely triggered.
23:09You can see just where the fracture was and what kinds of grains are underneath there.
23:14It's really loose, unconsolidated, bondless sugar snow down at the bottom there, so it's
23:21got a weak, weak bottom to it.
23:23Also seems like there's a buried old solar kind of sun crust in there, and there's facets
23:29that were formed right around that crust.
23:31We were kind of the extra load that it needed.
23:35The fact that it broke but didn't run down the hill is due to the low angle as it is.
23:40It's probably about 28 degrees here, which is on the low end of slopes that are capable
23:44of producing an avalanche.
23:48With signs of cracking, John and Adam want to test their steeper paths with explosives.
23:54We ski low angle terrain back to the cat for our next pass.
24:06Rolling on again, I'm jumping down which way the wind blows.
24:12Slab avalanches tend to prefer slopes between 30 and 45 degrees.
24:18So do many skiers.
24:20The resulting conflicts are inevitable.
24:26Avalanche professionals constantly reassess the snowpack by testing with explosives and
24:31ski cuts, digging snow pits, and being observant.
24:35They're tuning in to what the mountains and snowpack are telling them.
24:41So Adam, what are you thinking on this next shot?
24:43Well, if I got the arm, I want to get it below the rollover because a lot of times there's
24:48stress right at the convexity.
24:52Fire in the hole!
24:53Two pounds!
24:54Square shoot!
24:58Two minutes.
25:01Two minutes.
25:07Saw it.
25:09Set up, throw down into the gut and then cut back to where you guys are.
25:14Yeah, sounds good.
25:15In fact, probably the best spot would almost be off of where we are right now because that's
25:20where it rolls over probably the sharpest.
25:23Patrol headquarters, John.
25:26Go ahead.
25:27Fire in the hole, seven pounds, shot, leading tree.
25:30Copy.
25:37Cool?
25:38Oh yeah.
25:44Might just scoot out there and take a quick gander.
25:47Nothing really.
25:48Okay.
25:51I'll just cut back into here and wait for everybody to get down here.
25:55The explosives haven't triggered anything and we haven't seen widespread signs of instability,
26:00so John and Adam give us the green light.
26:04That's supposed to be it.
26:25Oh now, girl, don't have to bail.
26:31I'll be tumbling down the highway and you're dust.
26:36You've gone away, you've gone away, you've gone again.
26:40The same weather system hammering Chicago Ridge is pounding the San Juans.
26:45After a great day of skiing with good friends, we blaze towards Silverton, hoping to shoot
26:50through Red Mountain Pass before it closes.
26:52If we make it, we'll meet up with CAIC forecasters Mark Gober, Susan Hale, and Jerry Roberts
26:59as they battle to keep America's most dangerous road open, Highway 550.
27:06Motorists on this road traverse over 100 avalanche paths that produce 2,300 reported slides each season.
27:15The history of this highway is littered with avalanche tragedies and close calls.
27:22Threading the needle between pulses in the storm, we make it over the pass and get to
27:26Silverton moments before the gates close.
27:30Early the next morning, we meet Mark as he heads out to check the weather stations along the highway.
27:35New snow depth, water content, and wind data help the forecasters predict which avalanche
27:41paths are likely to run and how big.
27:45After recording his morning observations, Mark heads for the office in Silverton where
27:49we meet up with Susan.
27:53Silverton Forecast Office, Susan.
27:57The storm shows no signs of letting up, so the plows will be scrambling to open the road
28:02and keep it clear.
28:03Meanwhile, the forecasters will patrol the highway watching for avalanche activity and
28:08provide traffic control for the plows.
28:15The Highway 550 program is a model of successful cooperation between the CAIC and the Colorado
28:21Department of Transportation.
28:23Get an avalanche crew up here, however you want to do it, but I think we can safely get
28:27people up here to start shooting in Chattanooga.
28:33The last avalanche fatality on the highway occurred in March 1992, prompting the formal
28:39relationship between the CAIC and CDOT.
28:43There have been no avalanche fatalities on the highway since.
28:46But helping CDOT with control efforts is just one part of the job for the Silverton
28:51forecasters.
28:53As soon as the storm ends, Mark and Susan take me on a ski tour to assess backcountry
28:58conditions.
29:02So we're looking at, you know, eleven, ten and a half, eleven feet of snow and in the
29:10continental climate that's achieving something.
29:14And actually that's a good sign for stability.
29:16Yeah.
29:17I wouldn't be too worried about any deep, deep instabilities in that deep of a snowpack.
29:22It's almost as if it's insulated that deeper snowpack from big changes or temperature changes
29:29and so forth.
29:30Colorado's typically a more shallow snowpack and this is more typical of Utah.
29:36Yeah.
29:37Deeper, more insulated, heavier.
29:40So in this kind of snowpack what we're primarily worried about is probably the upper layers.
29:45And we can see the boundary between the new snow and the old snow here.
29:49This is probably our next layer of concern right here.
29:52So there's a definite density change and crystal type difference.
29:56So we're definitely going to want to test that because that's within about a meter of
30:01the surface.
30:02Go ahead and isolate a column and see if we get anything to react there.
30:08We isolate columns of snow to find shear planes or weaknesses within the snowpack.
30:14We're interested in shear quality because it indicates how a weakness will respond to a new load.
30:20What we're seeing in this snow pit are smooth shears, but they're hard to trigger and slow to slide.
30:26If they were fast and smooth then that would be a bigger red flag.
30:31Wanting to look at the layer that that failed on just to see if it's faceted crystals or
30:36to see what type of crystals are there.
30:39Looks like rounds, little rounds.
30:42Very small, .3.
30:45Kind of bonded.
30:48Mark and Susan aren't only concerned about stability right now.
30:52They're looking ahead to how the persistent weaknesses will respond to the next storm.
30:58If that doesn't settle out in the next four days, that could be a potential hazard for the next storm for sure.
31:06The snowpack data we collected today will help Mark and Susan direct control efforts of the CDOT crews.
31:13It'll also help them generate local forecasts to feed the growing population of hungry backcountry skiers.
31:27Music
31:38In Mark's words, every backcountry skier needs to be their own avalanche forecaster.
31:43He stresses the importance of performing your own site-specific assessments.
31:48Music
32:18After the tour, we tie in with Jerry Roberts who's been exploring these mountains for over 30 years.
32:24A recent accident causing severe injuries has deeply impacted his ability to ski the mountains that he loves.
32:31Nevertheless, his passion for snow continues to shine.
32:35He shares insights about the early days and evolution of skiing in the San Juans.
32:41Yeah, we did a lot of, I don't know.
32:45I suppose they were first descents around here because it was so early.
32:49It wasn't because we were great or ambitious, it was just nobody else was doing it.
32:53Everybody had little skinny skis on and we had old head standards and that kind of stuff with ramer bindings.
33:01And we'd just climb around here and ski and dig holes and kind of got excited about snow.
33:08What do you think about the modern trend of the fat skis and everyone has access to the backcountry
33:14and there's a lot of skilled skiers out there but who've never pursued the snow science, the avalanche education?
33:22That's an interesting question.
33:24I have a hard time putting judgments on all that because we were sort of the lunatic fringe when we were skiing here in the 70s.
33:35I think each generation has its own pioneers and its own leaders.
33:39I think it's kind of cool seeing people out skiing and stuff.
33:42I just hope they don't get hurt.
33:56A great way to stay safe in avalanche terrain is to learn from qualified guides.
34:01So we head to Ouray where we'll meet up with Clint Cook, Danica Gilbert and Chad Peel of San Juan Mountain Guides.
34:08Their shop is nestled on Main Street of this classic mountain town.
34:13The guide service thrives here because of modern interest in winter recreation.
34:18But this historic village has always had to deal with avalanche hazard.
34:23During the mining boom of the late 1800s, several avalanche tragedies shook this community.
34:29The uplifted and fractured geology that made this region a mining mecca has made it a proving ground for backcountry skiers.
34:36There's no illusion here. You're skiing big slide paths.
34:41Clint, Danica and Chad promise to take me to some of their favorite backcountry skiing haunts.
34:47And they don't disappoint.
34:49The unusually deep snowpack has inhibited the formation of persistent weaknesses that are plaguing this region.
34:56This rare condition allows us to ski lines that I normally wouldn't touch until spring or summer.
35:16During a climb, Chad shows me how to build a snow anchor and rope up to stomp cornice.
35:22I use a rope here because consequences are high.
35:26A steep open slope and jagged cliff band lurk below.
35:34When consequences are low, stomping cornice without a rope is an efficient way to test the snowpack.
35:40One of the most dangerous ways to test a slope is to jump off a cornice with little or no assessment of the snowpack below.
35:48Avalanche!
35:51This small avalanche doubles in size when the initial slide triggers a secondary failure.
36:00The skier makes it to a good safety zone, but his escape route took him across the entire avalanche path,
36:06which may not have worked if the fracture had propagated more than it did.
36:10Stack the odds in your favor by pre-planning escape routes and safety zones.
36:16Danica is another person who knows what it's like to trigger an avalanche while enjoying a day with her friends.
36:21We knew avalanche danger was high. That's why we were at Sam's.
36:25The Sam's Trees area has multiple terrain options, offering several good choices for different levels of avalanche danger.
36:32Days before hitting the avalanche, Danica and her friends set out to explore the area.
36:38Days before hearing Danica's story, we skied next to her fateful line.
36:44I was about, almost to the edge of the slope and broke out a little pocket.
36:49And then all of a sudden the whole thing let loose and I started sliding faster.
36:53And just before this island of trees, I got sucked under and went over another rollover.
36:58And it was probably five or six feet underneath the snowpack as it was moving.
37:03And everything I tried to do was pretty much useless.
37:05You know, trying all the things you hear you should do.
37:08Just get anything above, anything you can get above the surface so they can find you quickly.
37:12So I started punching my arms and I got my right hand through.
37:16Got my fingers out, wiggled them, was able to get my face clear so I could try to yell for help.
37:22So Scott gets on me, starts digging me out.
37:24So they get me out and I jump up and I'm like, alright, we've got to find my other ski.
37:28And I think, you know, and I'm running around and Kenan just kind of grabs me and bear hugs me.
37:32Like, just stop.
37:34I just want to make sure you're okay.
37:36With the clouds and the snow that came in, we had changed aspects just a little bit.
37:39We didn't realize we had, but we didn't stop to think.
37:43You know, if I had stopped at the top of that slope, I probably would have thought differently about skiing it.
37:48But I didn't even stop. I just went for it.
37:51And I got really lucky.
37:53I think any, you know, five feet further left, I wouldn't be here today.
37:59Unfortunately, many people aren't here today because of avalanches in Colorado.
38:07Go, go, go, go, go!
38:09Straight, straight, straight!
38:29Oh my God!
38:36Colorado is the perfect place to produce avalanches.
38:40Continental climate, dangerous snowpack, big terrain, easy access, and a willing population.
38:48What more could an avalanche ask for?
38:52Still, the mountains speak to me, and I cannot resist their call.
38:58Danica and I hike to the top of a San Juan classic, Granddad's Couloir.
39:14We didn't feel any instability on anything yet, at all.
39:20Copy that?
39:22All the signs look good, but there's always that nagging question in my head.
39:26What if it slides?
39:31Standing at the top of a big avalanche path, at the gut check, I go through my mental checklist.
39:37Beacons on, partners watching, escape routes and safety zones identified.
39:44Backcountry skiing is more than just recreation.
39:47It's a process of tuning in.
39:49Tuning in to the mountains, our partners, and ourselves can help us stay alive and keep our friends alive.
39:57Beyond survival, Colorado's unique avalanche problem offers tremendous opportunities.
40:04Opportunities to experience one of the most challenging snowpacks in the world,
40:09to connect with the mountains and with each other in ways that the modern world may otherwise stifle,
40:15and to catch a rhythm that echoes through time.
40:19Let the ancient rhythm find you.
40:22Ski well.
40:49Ski well.
40:51Ski well.
40:53Ski well.
40:55Ski well.
41:18Oh, shit.
41:19Sorry, dude.
41:21Oh, shit.
41:30Oh, I thought that was a rock.
41:32Yeah, that was me.
41:44Damn it.
41:52I want you.
41:59Help me.
42:03And take me away for a while.
42:16Nice, Ben.
42:18Nice.
42:24Nice.
42:48Nice.
43:03The waking hours have come to steal my dreams.
43:18The waking hours have come to steal my dreams.
43:28The waking hours have come to steal my dreams.
43:38The waking hours have come to steal my dreams.