Northern San Juan

Avalanche

At around 3:00 PM on March 17, 2022, a solo backcountry snowboarder was caught, buried, and killed in an avalanche south of Trout Lake, about five miles southwest of the town of Ophir, in the North San Juan Mountain Forecast zone. Telluride Helitrax, a local helicopter-skiing/snowboarding guide service, was guiding in the area when a guide noticed a large avalanche. Two guides were dropped on the debris field. The guides got a signal and located the snowboarder with a transceiver search. The snowboarder was buried about 2 meters deep, and unfortunately, he did not survive.