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Avalanche Deaths in US West Highlight Dangers

Associated Press

   DENVER, COLORADO - The deaths of two Colorado men caught in avalanches
   and a third in Montana over the frigid Presidents Day weekend show how
   backcountry skiers and others in the Rocky Mountain wilderness risk
   triggering weak layers of snow that have created the most hazardous
   conditions in a decade, forecasters say.

   At least 25 people have been killed in avalanches in the United States
   this year -- more than the 23 who died last winter. Typically, 27
   people die in avalanches in the U.S. annually.

   Avalanche forecasters say they have rarely seen the danger as high as
   it is now -- and it will grow as more snow moves into the Rockies,
   adding weight and stress on a weak, granular base layer of snow that's
   susceptible to breaking apart and triggering especially wide slides on
   steep slopes.

   The main culprit is that ground layer of snow that dropped in October.
   A dry November weakened it, which is anywhere from several inches
   (centimeters) to several feet (meters) thick, and despite more snow
   falling, it's stayed the consistency of granular sugar, said Dave Zinn,
   an avalanche forecaster for the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche
   Center in southwestern Montana.

   "That layer consists of large, sugary crystals that don't bond together
   well. It's impossible to make a snowball from it. And when it becomes
   weighted down, it becomes fragile and breaks," bringing down the
   heavier layers on top of it, Zinn said.

   "It's the weakest link in the chain. When you pile on more snow,
   there's always one spot that's going to break," said Ethan Greene,
   director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

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