Breckenridge Destinations supports independent journalism. Click for great deals on vacation lodging in Breckenridge.
Gravity plus sunshine = spring snow slides
A cornice collapse triggered a massive slide in the vicinity of Peak 5, near Breckenridge, Colorado. PHOTO BY MATT KRANE.
SUMMIT COUNTY — As forecast by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, the sudden warmup has led to some significant avalanche activity in the Colorado backcountry. One of the slides that ran big was Big Mike, a well-known path near Officer’s Gulch, alongside I-70. Big Mike was a hindrance back in the railroad days, when the locomotives ran along what is now the recpath. Click here for more avalanche info.
Tenmile Range near Breckenridge. PHOTO BY MATT KRANE.
Big cornices tend to collapse under their own weight as temperatures climb. PHOTO BY MATT KRANE.
Big Mike ran all the way to the edge of the river.
Looking up the Big Mike slide path near I-70, between Frisco and Copper.
Aspen trees flattened and pinned to the side of the Big Mike slide path.
Avalanche debris piled 20-feet high alongside I-70 in Summit County, Colorado.
Ten to 15 feet of debris piled up on the recpath between Copper and Frisco.
Trees engulfed, but apparently unharmed, in the Big Mike slidepath.
More avalanches of this magnitude could run in the next few weeks.
Big Mike slidepath.
Riverside slide.
Some more recent Summit Voice headlines:
Summit County: Sixth-snowiest winter on record
Summit County firefighters preparing 9-11 monument
Colorado River: ‘It shouldn’t be about power and money’
Breckenridge: Godspeed Collective showing art at Clint’s
Colo. Wildlife Commission opposes Over the River project
Morning photo: Spring avalanches
Wildfires: New Mexico and Florida the latest hotspots
Report ranks al-Qaida as most lethal terror group
Filed under: avalanches, climate and weather, Colorado, Morning photo, seasons, snow, Snow and weather, Summit County Colorado, Summit County news Tagged: | avalanches, Big Mike, Breckenridge Colorado, Colorado Avalanche Information Center, Summit County Colorado, Tenmile Range
Arapahoe Basin supports independent journalism. Click to visit The Legend online.
Powder's falling at Monarch!! Have you reserved your spot yet?
Innovative energy underwrites coverage of energy stories.
[...] While that may be true (if one stays on the main trail; those without gear that decide to hike up are playing burial roulette), I have two qualms surrounding that argument. First, we’re in a major avalanche cycle, with the possibility of seeing avalanches bigger than we’ve seen in decades. (Check out these crazy pics!) [...]