Over the weekend, avalanches severely injured one backcountry snowboarder and killed a skier in two separate accidents near Crested Butte.
On Sunday, Feb. 11, Gunnison local Eric Freson, 36, was caught, buried and killed while backcountry skiing in an area of the Anthracite Range known as the Playground. His identity was confirmed by the Gunnison County Coroner. The preliminary accident report from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) stated that Freson’s partners were able to locate and extricate him from the avalanche debris, but he died from the injuries he sustained from the avalanche.
An avid mountain biker and skier, Freson served as a mentor and friend to many in the valley. A Facebook post from Irwin guide Billy Rankin said Freson was known for “his love for the pursuit, the adventure and the unknown.”
“I feel a huge burden of sorrow and loss and maybe it is cumulative and gets harder each time?” Rankin wrote on Feb. 12. “I feel the sorrow of our whole community, especially those closest to him and those involved with the accident.”
Freson was caught in a small avalanche that broke above a cliff band. He pulled his airbag and was carried over the cliff, where a larger avalanche was released. According to a Monday press release from the Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office, the Crested Butte and Western search and rescue teams were paged out to the site of the accident.
A helicopter was later deployed to the scene and rescuers attempted lifesaving efforts, but Freson died on scene. CAIC and Crested Butte Avalanche Center staff visited the accident site on Monday and will issue a full report in the next week.
This was Colorado’s second avalanche death of the 2023-24 winter season. In late January, a solo backcountry snowboarder died from traumatic injuries after being caught and partially buried at Waterfall Canyon, south of Ophir.
On Saturday Feb. 10, a large avalanche caught, carried and severely injured a snowboarder on Snodgrass Mountain — a popular backcountry ski area just north of Crested Butte. The crown ranged from 1 foot thick in some areas, to up to 3 feet thick in others.
Even though the rider wasn’t buried, the area where the avalanche occurred drained into some trees. Crested Butte Search and Rescue responded to the accident and were able to evacuate the snowboarder. The avalanche industry doesn’t publish names to protect those involved from judgment, and to focus on sharing information that could potentially save someone’s life.
Dangerous surprises
According to the Crested Butte Avalanche Center, the two serious accidents over the weekend illustrated the snowpack’s potential for “dangerous surprises.” Signs of instability are becoming more sporadic, which means the snow may not give the usual warning signs before an avalanche is released. At the same time, human-triggered avalanches continue to occur throughout the backcountry, many in zones frequented by local skiers and riders.
A layer of surface hoar buried several feet deep in the snowpack has been the culprit in much of recent avalanche activity seen in the valley. Surface hoar is the feathery crystals that form on the snow’s surface when the weather is clear and calm. Once this fragile layer is buried, it can become unpredictable.
“We’ve seen a mixed bag of feedback,” said CBAC’s lead forecaster Zach Guy during the accident investigation on Snodgrass. “On some slopes people are skiing steep terrain and nothing is happening. [On] other slopes people are triggering avalanches.”
To access local mental health services for trauma and grief, visit cbstateofmind.org.
(Bella Biondini can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or bella@gunnisontimes.com.)
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