Avalanche — Southwestern San Juan Mountains, Colorado
December 19, 2020 · NOAA Storm Events record
Event narrative (NOAA)
A soft slab avalanche was triggered on the north face of Battleship, southeast of Ophir, Colorado by a group of backcountry skiers after a week long period of light to moderate snowfall. The avalanche was small relative to the path and destructive enough to injure, bury or kill a person. The avalanche reached depths from 12 to 20 inches, was about 700 feet wide and ran 1600 vertical feet, from the alpine into a below treeline creek bed. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center has rated the avalanche danger as Considerable (Level 3) above treeline and Moderate (Level 2) below treeline. Three skiers were either caught or partially caught by the avalanche with only one survivor.
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Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database. Deaths and injuries are those NOAA classifies as direct. Damage is the reporting office's estimate at the time and is not inflation-adjusted. This is a catalogue record, not a forecast.