Vail & Summit County
AvalancheAnonymous · Dec 10, 2022 · Vail & Summit County
Weather
Sunny blue sky day
Snowpack
Fresh powder
Avalanche
A party of three snowmobilers were riding in the Spring Creek area on Saturday. They did not observe any signs of unstable snow such as shooting cracks or collapsing sounds. The party noticed one small avalanche near a cornice that was a few days old. No other recent avalanches were observed. One rider was riding up a lower angle depression and wound up riding further right on to a steeper slope. The rider said "he got over confident" in the avalanche conditions. The rider was sidehilling when the avalanche broke above him. He tried to accelerate and out run the avalanche but he could not. He jumped off of his sled and was carried in the avalanche. He successfully deployed his avalanche airbag pack. The rider came to rest buried with just his head and one shoulder exposed. The other members of his party did not know where he was. He was able to free his arm and shoulder and dig himself out. The rider was uninjured and the party of three returned to the trailhead.