{"id":2456103,"date":"2020-03-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-21T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=323044"},"modified":"2020-03-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-21T06:00:00","slug":"travelers-in-aspen-area-backcountry-urged-to-use-extra-caution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/travelers-in-aspen-area-backcountry-urged-to-use-extra-caution\/","title":{"rendered":"Travelers in Aspen-area backcountry urged to use extra caution"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Coronavirus-induced cabin fever plus fresh snow plus growing interest in backcountry skiing could be a recipe for trouble if people aren\u2019t educating themselves and preparing for risks, experts warned Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe avalanche danger jumped to considerable in the Aspen-area zone Friday after 8 inches of snow fell on the ski areas and up to 2 feet fell in the Upper Crystal River Valley.\u201d More snow is in the forecast.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still prime avalanche season,\u201d said Brian Lazar, deputy director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.<\/p>\n

Lazar said backcountry travelers might be paying closer attention to keeping themselves safe from coronavirus and not paying enough attention to avalanche risk. People are eager to feed their need to get outdoors.<\/p>\n

\u201cMother Nature doesn\u2019t alter the avalanche danger based on those needs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Avalanche forecasters around the state have encountered more activity at backcountry trailheads. One factor might be more people are driving separately to maintain social distancing, he said. But there also appears to be more people engaging in backcountry skiing and snowboarding, particularly with so many workers laid off, he said.<\/p>\n

There has been a surge in the number of skiers and split boarders putting on climbing skins for the uphill journey at the closed ski areas in the Roaring Fork Valley.<\/p>\n

Cripple Creek Backcountry, which operates shops in the Roaring Fork Valley and one in the Eagle Valley, reported in its newsletter Thursday it has been \u201cabsolutely buried by gear drop-offs\u201d for tunes and mounting bindings.<\/p>\n

Mountain Rescue Aspen member Greg Shaffran said the uptick in backcountry skiing in the Aspen area has been obvious since the ski areas were ordered closed by executive order by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are getting a little cabin fever, a little antsy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Shaffran said Mountain Rescue is stressing to people to be careful even in the ski areas. Terrain they are familiar with under typical circumstances during winter might take on different snow characteristics with no ski patrol and no snow safety measures. Therefore, he recommended extreme caution on tougher terrain in the ski areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not unheard of for avalanches in ski resorts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lazar also advised caution in the ski areas. \u201cIt\u2019s all backcountry right now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Caution is needed not only for the safety of skiers but also because the health care system cannot handle extra stress of caring for someone with a broken leg when the expectation is for all attention needed for coronavirus victims, Shaffran said.<\/p>\n

The message from MRA is to enjoy the backcountry and uphilling at the resorts \u2014 but be smart and safe.<\/p>\n

MRA also has been affected by the need to prevent the spread of coronavirus. It gave up its headquarters by the Aspen Business Center to the Pitkin County incident management team for the coronavirus crisis. MRA has suspended its trainings and meetings to avoid large gatherings.<\/p>\n

When called out on a mission, members drive directly to trailheads or staging areas rather than mobilizing at the headquarters or another location.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerally, the Mountain Rescue Aspen response has been to throw big numbers on it,\u201d he said of an incident. Now a more calculated approach is required.<\/p>\n

Recommendations suggested by Shaffran and Lazar included check conditions with CAIC at https:\/\/avalanche.state.co.us<\/a>, make a plan in advance, implement that plan effectively, let someone know about your plan, carry a beacon, probe and shovel and know how to use them.<\/p>\n

Shaffran\u2019s final piece of advice was, \u201cChill out a little bit.\u201d It\u2019s not a time for taking chances. \u201cUncertainty is high right now. Dial it back,\u201d Shaffran said.<\/p>\n

The forecast for the Aspen zone Friday said the new snow created dangerous conditions, particularly where the highest snow levels fell.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly two days ago most slopes were safe from avalanches,\u201d CAIC said on its website. \u201cThat\u2019s not the case today. It would be easy to assume that following a spring storm with dense new snow, the new load would settle quickly and the avalanche danger would trend down quickly, too. That may or may not be the case with this event.\u201d<\/p>\n

scondon@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coronavirus-induced cabin fever plus fresh snow plus growing interest in backcountry skiing could be a recipe for trouble if people aren\u2019t educating themselves and preparing for risks, experts warned Friday. \u201cThe avalanche danger jumped to considerable in the Aspen-area zone Friday after 8 inches of snow fell on the ski areas and up to 2 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2456103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 08:52:00","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2456103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456103\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2456103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2456103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2456103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}