Avalanche Fatality - Berthoud Pass should become a ski area again

[tball]

CAIC Report

Snowboarder killed in avalanche on Berthoud Pass on Monday

A snowboarder was caught and killed in an avalanche on Berthoud Pass on Monday, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. This marks the first avalanche-related death of the season.

www.denver7.com

Sadly this death was entirely foreseeable and preventable.

This victim would still be alive If the Forest Service bureaucrats were not determined there shouldn't be a ski area on Berthoud Pass and shut down the area that had been around for more than sixty years. It's just a matter of time until there is another avalanche fatality on Berthoud Pass.

 

[Ken_R]

Everyone can see those steeps from the road so the temptation is always there. Even basic knowledge will inform you to not ski there until conditions are right. Low hanging fruit claims a life. Sorry for all those involved.

That said Berthoud Pass is an amazing area that is easy to access and ski safely almost any day of the season.

Another ski area would be cool but people will still venture outside any boundary and be at risk if they lack the knowledge and prudence to do things right. The Colorado snowpack will always be sketchy most days. It is what it is.

 

[jmeb]

For those who may not have a deep history of this extremely popular backcountry ski area:

This is the first avalanche fatality within the boundaries of the old ski area since 2011.

It is the second fatality within the boundaries of the old ski area since it shuttered due to financial difficulties in 2001.

"Berthoud Pass" is used to refer to the pass itself, the old ski area terrain, and the several drainages stretching from Stanley mountain to the south to First Creek in the north, on both sides of the pass. It includes over a hundred slide paths and many more pockets of avalanche terrain capable of producing deadly avalanches.

Vibes to the families and communities impacted by this tragic accident.

 

[crgildart]

I blame the ski stoke videos that show extreme skiers skiing stuff so steep and deep it's right on the verge of busting loose.. sometimes busting loose right behind them. When the ultimate prize is right on the edge of disaster, folks are going to die chasing it.

And ya, in plain sight and too easy to get to maybe they either staff it again for $$$s or make it somehow unskiable the way cities put up barriers and obstacles to deter skateboarders.

 

[dbostedo]

CAIC Report

Snowboarder killed in avalanche on Berthoud Pass on Monday

A snowboarder was caught and killed in an avalanche on Berthoud Pass on Monday, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. This marks the first avalanche-related death of the season.

www.denver7.com

Sadly this death was entirely foreseeable and preventable.

This victim would still be alive If the Forest Service bureaucrats were not determined there shouldn't be a ski area on Berthoud Pass and shut down the area that had been around for more than sixty years. It's just a matter of time until there is another avalanche fatality on Berthoud Pass.

Isn't this kind of like saying every easily accessed avalanche area should be mitigated? Why is this one area special (other than it used to be a ski area)?

 

[pais alto]

Has anyone proposed (re)opening a ski area at BP, but the FS ‘bureaucrats’ turned them down?

Also;

Berthoud Pass - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The ski resort was closed in 2002 due to financial problems caused by lack of water and sewage at the top of the pass.

Maybe you should go for it @tball. I’d go and be on the first chair.

 

[Tony S]

Isn't this kind of like saying every easily accessed avalanche area should be mitigated? Why is this one area special (other than it used to be a ski area)?

I had this question too.

 

[tball]

This is the first avalanche fatality within the boundaries of the old ski area since 2011.

It is the second fatality within the boundaries of the old ski area since it shuttered due to financial difficulties in 2001.

Given the relatively small number of users of Berthoud Pass, is a fatality per decade acceptable in terms of public safety?

 

[tball]

Isn't this kind of like saying every easily accessed avalanche area should be mitigated? Why is this one area special (other than it used to be a ski area)?

Big picture, my feeling is both Berthoud Pass and Loveland Pass should be brought inbounds. From a public safety perspective, they are too easy to access and too close to millions of people on the front range. People will continue to die on both passes if something doesn't change.

This case is particularly troubling, as I probably skied the chute where the snowboarder died more than a hundred times when it was mitigated as part of the ski area. The chute is right under where the west side lift was and one of only a handful of good shots you could lap from the lift.

The Forest Service tore down a perfectly good quad lift that was a little more than ten years old. The lift was immediately above where the snowboarder died.

 

[tball]

Nitro Chute, where the snowboarder died Monday, is #39 on this 1998 ski area map:

Source: https://skimap.org/SkiAreas/view/2669/downhill

My link to the CAIC report is broken in the OP. This should work:

CAIC

 

[wooglin]

Play stupid games win stupid prizes? Someone died in the Whites again this week because they were dumb. It happens. I feel bad for them and especially for their families, but it happens.

 

[Drahtguy Kevin]

Given the relatively small number of users of Berthoud Pass, is a fatality per decade acceptable in terms of public safety?

Small number of users? The SOB moguls up in numerous places. You can see ‘em from the highway!

 

[tball]

Small number of users? The SOB moguls up in numerous places. You can see ‘em from the highway!

Yes, small relative to the millions of visits to ski areas!

For those not familiar, Berthoud Pass is parking constrained, and this is the current size of the parking lot (plus a few spots in designated areas along the highway):

 

[CascadeConcrete]

This victim would still be alive If the Forest Service bureaucrats were not determined there shouldn't be a ski area on Berthoud Pass

I don't think I buy that premise. Backcountry skiers are skiing Berthoud because it's a convenient backcountry access location, not simply because it is Berthoud Pass. Putting a ski resort there would only lead to those same skiers going somewhere else. At risk of stating the obvious, a ski resort isn't the backcountry.

 

[tball]

Putting a ski resort there would only lead to those same skiers going somewhere else.

Not necessarily.

The extreme ease of access to Berthoud and Loveland Passes lures many into dangerous backcountry terrain who would likely never go somewhere more difficult to access.

 

[Primoz]

Big picture, my feeling is both Berthoud Pass and Loveland Pass should be brought inbounds. From a public safety perspective, they are too easy to access and too close to millions of people on the front range. People will continue to die on both passes if something doesn't change.

This case is particularly troubling, as I probably skied the chute where the snowboarder died more than a hundred times when it was mitigated as part of the ski area. The chute is right under where the west side lift was and one of only a handful of good shots you could lap from the lift.

The Forest Service tore down a perfectly good quad lift that was a little more than ten years old. The lift was immediately above where the snowboarder died.

I admit I have different mentality, as I'm living on the other side of ocean all my life, but at least for me, I really don't get your argument here. Over here, you are responsible for your actions, and if you do stupid thing it's up to you. Going out in backcountry, regardless on this how easy accesible it is, is your own responsibility, and it's up to you to check conditions. It's also up to you if you screw up. I don't really get this idea that every possible terrain where avalanches can happen should be monitored and mitigated, so stupid people who don't bother to check and learn anything, can use it freely (and can sue someone when something bad happens).
We have sort of similar place, just without lift, in my backyard.... 15min skimo and you are in middle of real alpine terrain, with all dangers from avi danger, to steep walls and cliffs. And yes, there's plenty of people who take it easy because "it's just 15min from car so it can't be that bad", but still if you go there do stupid things it's your own responsibility, and luckily there's no ideas from any side, that this should be changed and some restrictions should be implemented. Well luckily there's no option even in our constitution, that would prevent anyone have free access to that terrain

 

[Drahtguy Kevin]

^^^ Fantastic, @Primoz. Unfortunately in America it’s always someone else’s fault. Personal responsibility/accountability circled the toilet a generation or two ago.

 

[dbostedo]

My link to the CAIC report is broken in the OP. This should work:
CAIC

The link in the OP has been fixed.

 

[mikel]

I don't think I buy that premise. Backcountry skiers are skiing Berthoud because it's a convenient backcountry access location, not simply because it is Berthoud Pass. Putting a ski resort there would only lead to those same skiers going somewhere else. At risk of stating the obvious, a ski resort isn't the backcountry.

People do backcountry all along the road from there to Mary Jane. You're right about Berthoud because of easy access and more places to park but there are some that still go there because it's Berthoud.

 

[pais alto]

Big picture, my feeling is both Berthoud Pass and Loveland Pass should be brought inbounds. From a public safety perspective, they are too easy to access and too close to millions of people on the front range. People will continue to die on both passes if something doesn't change.

[…]

The Forest Service tore down a perfectly good quad lift that was a little more than ten years old. The lift was immediately above where the snowboarder died.

Doubling down there? I posted above:

The ski resort was closed in 2002 due to financial problems caused by lack of water and sewage at the top of the pass.

Berthoud Pass - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Is Wikipedia wrong? We can correct it if that’s the case.

Or if you just hate the FS and really want BP as a ski area, then…we can just keep that in mind.