A skier suffered injuries in an avalanche Saturday, April 12, in the K Chute of a popular backcountry spot in Summit County known as the Sky Chutes, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

The Sky Chutes, a line of avalanche paths that get their name because they appear to spell out the word “sky,” are located on the west side of the Tenmile Range’s Peak 6. The backcountry chutes are on the opposite side of the mountain from Breckenridge Ski Resort and are visible across the highway from Copper Mountain.

The avalanche triggered by the skier Saturday was a wet slab avalanche that was D2.5 in size, or large enough to bury, injure or kill a person, according to the avalanche center. The CAIC had rated avalanche danger as moderate in the Tenmile Range that day, with the forecast warning of slides possible on west-facing slopes near treeline.

CAIC deputy director Brian Lazar said that wet slab avalanches occur when a cohesive piece of snow breaks at a weak layer due to meltwater reducing the strength of the weak layer, causing the slab to release out of the snowpack.

“A good mantra for spring conditions is to start and end your days early,” Lazar said. “Spring is a very dynamic period.”

With spring conditions, cold temperatures and clear skies overnight can make for a safer, more frozen snowpack in the mornings, Lazar said. But as the temperature warms up, avalanche danger increases as more water moves through the snowpack, he said.

Around 11:45 a.m. Saturday, a group of four skiers left Breckenridge Resort through a backcountry access point with plans to ski the K Chute, CAIC northern mountains senior backcountry forecaster Jason Konigsberg wrote in a field report detailing the incident. The steep chute faces west.

The group discussed the avalanche forecast for the day and were all carrying avalanche rescue gear, the report states. The skiers had reportedly left a car below the Sky Chutes earlier that morning.

The group hiked along a ridgeline mostly barren of snow before putting their skis on at the top of K Chute and skiing a couple turns before Skier 1 stopped where the terrain steepened and radioed to the group to make a plan, the report states.

From there, Skier 2 went first, making several turns past Skier 1, when he triggered the avalanche, which broke above him, sweeping him down the path and out of sight of Skier 1, according to the report.

As Skier 1 began to descend the path, he got his avalanche transceiver out and radioed back to Skier 3, letting him know that a search was beginning and asking him to call 911, Konigsberg wrote in the report. After a few minutes, Skier 1 reportedly spotted Skier 2 in the still-moving avalanche debris and watched as Skier 2 moved out of the debris as the slide slowed down.

Eventually, Skier 1 made it to Skier 2, who had slid approximately 1,100 vertical feet from where he was caught, losing both skis along the way, and helped him walk to bare ground on the skier’s right side of the gully, the report states.

But the bare ground soon ended and the two encountered soft, wet snow, where they began postholing, or sinking so deep that it became hard to move, Konigsberg said.

“Travel was very difficult,” he wrote.

Soon, the two skiers realized that Skier 2 had another set of skis in the parking area near the bottom of the path, and Skier 1 left to retrieve the other set of skis, the report states. When he returned, the two were reportedly able to ski down to the car and drive to the hospital.

When Skier 3 met up with Skier 1, he told him he had not called 911, according to the avalanche center.

Later that day, a second group of two skiers left Breckenridge Ski Area from the same backcountry access point, also with plans to ski the K Chute, and saw the crown of the avalanche, the report states. A third group of skiers, who had a photo of the chute at 8:30 a.m. that morning with no avalanche in it, also reportedly arrived at the same time.

The two groups communicated about the avalanche, weren’t sure when it had occurred and decided to descend the path with their avalanche transceivers in search mode, Konigsberg wrote.  Along the way, the two groups found a set of skis and brought them with them. 

The two groups had not received a transceiver signal by the time they reached the bottom of the avalanche debris and called 911 to ask if the avalanche had been reported, the report states. A dispatcher reportedly told them it had not been. 

Summit County Sheriff’s Office and Summit County Rescue Group began to organize a search team but soon were alerted by St. Anthony Summit Hospital that the person caught in the avalanche was being treated, according to the avalanche center. The rescue group reportedly matched the skis found in K Chute with the description of Skier 2’s skis.

Summit County Rescue Group mission coordinator Ben Butler said that while some rescue group members drove to the base of Sky Chutes, no one deployed into the field. Butler said that anyone who triggers an avalanche, whether or not someone is caught or injured, should report the slide to local dispatch so that rescue teams are aware that no one is buried.

Anyone heading out into avalanche terrain should carry a transceiver, probe and shovel, be trained to use that gear and check the forecast at Colorado.gov/avalanche before leaving.