Colorado's Berthoud Pass hit by mega-avalanche

By Published On: January 6th, 2007Comments Off on Colorado's Berthoud Pass hit by mega-avalanche

A huge avalanche knocked two cars off a mountain pass Saturday on the main highway to one of the state's largest ski areas, shortly after crowds headed through on the way to the lifts, authorities said.
    Eight people were rescued from the buried vehicles and all were taken to area hospitals, said state Patrolman Eric Wynn. Details of their conditions were not available.

DENVER — A huge avalanche knocked two cars off a mountain pass Saturday on the main highway to one of the state's largest ski areas, shortly after crowds headed through on the way to the lifts, authorities said.
    Eight people were rescued from the buried vehicles and all were taken to area hospitals, said state Patrolman Eric Wynn. Details of their conditions were not available.
    ''Our crews said it was the largest they have ever seen. It took three paths,'' Stacey Stegman of the transportation department said of the massive slide on U.S. 40 near 11,307-foot (3,392-meter) Berthoud Pass, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Denver on the way to Winter Park Resort.
    Crews were probing the area for other vehicles, including any others that may have gone off the road, Stegman said.
    The avalanche hit between 10 a.m. and 10:30 and was about 100 feet (30 meters) wide and 15 feet (4.5 meters) deep, Stegman said. The area usually has slides 2 to 3 feet (65 centimeters to a meter) deep because crews trigger them before more snow can accumulate, said Spencer Logan of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
    Three snowstorms in as many weeks have dumped more than 4 feet (1.20 meters) of snow on parts of Colorado and authorities have not had time to test all slide areas, Spencer said.
    ''This is a tremendous amount of snow to come down the mountain for us,'' Stegman said.
    Mile Cikara, who was headed to Winter Park to ski, told KMGH-TV in Denver that he joined others furiously digging out victims. ''I along with 30 other people grabbed shovels and started digging to get people out. I had a shovel but people were using their hands, skis, ski poles, whatever, to dig out,'' until rescue teams arrived, he said.
    The timing meant most traffic headed to the ski area had already passed through.
    ''Good thing it didn't happen a couple of hours earlier,'' said Darcy Morse, a Winter Park spokeswoman. On an average January weekend day, the resort draws more than 10,000 skiers and snowboarders, with lifts opening at 8:30 or 9 a.m.
    Wynn said the pass was closed and would not reopen until Sunday at the earliest.
    Colorado has been digging out for the past three weeks after back-to-back blizzards and more snow falling Friday.
    The Denver area was blanketed with up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow Friday, while nearly a foot (30 centimeters) fell in the foothills west of the city before the storm moved into New Mexico.
    Crews in Colorado have worked around the clock to clear roads so residents could get to stores for food and medicine.
    Agriculture officials also were trying to determine how to deal with the carcasses of thousands of livestock that were killed in last week's blizzard or starved afterward.

— The Associated Press

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