Backcountry travelers have triggered several small avalanches so far this holiday season, but luckily nobody has been injured or killed, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

State avalanche officials are warning that avalanche danger is expected to increase throughout Colorado as snowfall accumulates as stormy and windy weather is forecasted to roll in ahead of the New Year.

So far this season, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center has reported that 12 backcountry travelers have been caught in avalanches, three people have been buried in slides and one person has sustained injuries. No one has been killed.

The most recent avalanche accident occurred Sunday, Dec. 22 at Ptarmigan Hill, according to a field report submitted to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. A group riding motorized vehicles witnessed the avalanche while watching a snowboarder make his way down the backcountry slope.

The snowboarder made about seven turns before changing direction onto a steeper, northeast-facing slope and disappearing from view, the field report states. The group reportedly watched a crack propagate above the snowboard and saw the avalanche. When they investigated, they found the rider uninjured.

Another avalanche accident occurred Friday, Dec. 20, on the Front Range when a skier, who was skiing with a partner, hit a weak spot in the snowpack below tree line near Jones Pass and triggered a small wind slab avalanche, according to a field report.

“We tickled the dragon,” the skier wrote, noting that he clicked out of one ski in the avalanche but was uninjured. He said that the northerly aspect where he triggered the avalanche “is frequently skied” and he could feel more of the wind slab under the snow when poking around after the slide.

“As I initiated the turn, I heard a whoosh and the snow around me started to move,” the backcountry traveler said. “It caught up with me, and I basically sat on top of it.”

“Luckily it was small,” the skier said of the avalanche.

Finally, another avalanche that occurred over the holiday season was also triggered at a popular backcountry spot. On Thursday, Dec. 19, a skier who was traveling uphill at Coon Hill near the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels on Interstate 70 was caught in a small avalanche and carried about 20 feet, according to a field report. The skier was not buried or injured in the slide.

The most up-to-date avalanche forecast can be found at Colorado.gov/avalanche.