Avalache in Cougar creek east (west line)

Avalanche

Run Length

100

Slab Width

15

Trigger Type

skier

Avalanche Size

2

Slab Thickness

80

Trigger Sub Type

accidental

Start Zone Aspect

N

Vegetation Cover

sparseTrees

Start Zone Incline

40

Avalanche Character

persistentSlab

Number Of Avalanches

1

Start Zone Elevation

1780

Runout Zone Elevation

1680

Start Zone Elevation Band

tln

Avalanche Occurrence Datetime

2026-02-16T19:45:00.000Z

Incident

Group Size

2

Terrain Trap

gullyDepression

Group Activity

skiing

Number Injured

1

Number Involved

1

Number Caught Only

0

Number Fully Buried

0

Snow Depth Trigger Point

deep

Terrain Shape Trigger Point

convex

Number Partly Buried Able Breathing

0

Number Partly Buried Impaired Breathing

0

One member of the group triggered the avalanche under his feets and got caught and was dragged for around 100 meters and hit multiple trees in the way. He break his right feet and injured his knee. He also lost his splitboard, but we were able to recover the parts and reassemble it. He was able to slowly ride the rest of the run by enduring the pain then skin to the highway. We went to the hospital in Golden and are safe back at the hotel. For others, take care in this area or other similar terrain because we also saw many other collapses on the way down, it really unstable in this area.