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A backcountry skiing excursion in Colorado took a turn for the worse this week. At Grizzly Peak, southeast of Loveland Pass near the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, a snowboarder was caught in an avalanche that left him with a broken knee and required an aerial evacuation.
One snowboarder and three skiers left the west side of Loveland Pass at eight in the morning. Their plan was to climb Grizzly Peak and descend a north-facing gully. Around 11 a.m., they were descending when one of the skiers triggered a wind slab avalanche that broke across the entire left side of the gully, according to a report from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC ). Luckily, the skier who triggered the avalanche was not caught, and the others were on the right side of the gully.
However, as the snowboarder continued downhill, he triggered a second avalanche on the right side and was caught. According to CAIC, he was carried around 700 vertical feet down the gully before managing to stop. However, in the process the snowboarder hit his knee on a rock and suffered a broken kneecap.
The skiers called 911 around 11:30 a.m., then helped the injured snowboarder to the base of the avalanche’s debris pile. Four hours later, alpine rescue arrived, and determined they would have to evacuate the snowboarder by air. A Flight for Life helicopter arrived an hour after that to take the injured snowboarder to a hospital in Frisco.
“With good old-fashioned human power of 24 members and (for the first time) all six snowmobiles and the tracked UTV, we approached from the summit of Loveland Pass and from Stevens Gulch,” wrote Alpine Rescue on Instagram. “A brief window in the weather allowed (us) to get in and safely evacuate our patient to higher medical care. Thanks to our wonderful partners, Clear Creek EMS and Flight for Life for a smooth mission.”
