Aspen

Avalanche

One skier, traveling in a party of three, was caught and carried in a large avalanche on a northwest-facing slope below treeline off Mount Justice. Within the first few turns of the descent, the skier noticed the slope fracture around them and tried to keep up their speed and ski out of it. The avalanche knocked the skier over and began dragging them down the slope. The avalanche immediately knocked one ski off their feet and after dragging them around 50-100 feet down the slope their other ski was ripped off by the debris. With their skis off their feet, they were able to self-arrest on the bed surface and managed to escape the moving debris. The avalanche broke on deeply buried weak layers and slid on the ground taking the entire season's snowpack down the slope with it. The skier was able to find one of their skis and strapped branches to their other foot while they ascended to the ridge and skied with one ski back down to the trailhead with no serious injuries.