SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. — Colorado has seen an unprecedented number of avalanches in the last week, sometimes burying cars traveling along mountain roads and highways.
Ethan Greene, director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, said although it's rare for a vehicle to get caught in one, there are certain measures people can take to ensure their safety:
- Plan ahead and bring extra food and water.
- Have a full tank of gas.
- Bring blankets or sleeping bags, and have warm clothes in your car.
- If you do encounter an avalanche or get stuck in the snow, stay in your car and call for help on a cell phone.
- In an avalanche, keep the windows up and stay in the car.
- Don’t walk around, because there may be another avalanche coming from another path.
- Make sure your tailpipe isn’t blocked or clogged, particularly if you're concerned you'll be stuck for a longer period of time.
- If it is clogged, turn off your vehicle and use blankets or clothing to keep warm so that carbon monoxide doesn’t fill the car.
On Thursday afternoon, four cars were buried on Highway 91 between Leadville and Copper Mountain. Around 1:30 a.m. that same morning, a tow truck was caught in a slide on I-70.
On Sunday, there were two avalanches along I-70 in the Officer's Gulch area, which is about 10 miles east of where the slide happened Thursday morning. The second slide on Sunday covered the lanes of the highway and swept vehicles out of the eastbound lanes and into the median.
The CAIC helps the Colorado Department of Transportation mitigate for avalanches along highways, such as I-70.
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