See ‘really confused’ moose’s reaction after triggering avalanche on Colorado mountain
Snowpack conditions in Colorado are so delicate even wildlife can trigger avalanches, a photo shows.
A wandering moose may have caused a significant slide down a slope — from hundreds of feet below the break, the peculiar photo shows.
Hundreds of feet of snow plunged down the mountain toward the moose and ground to a stop into old snow not far from where it stood facing the danger head on in the lower right hand corner of the photo.
A group of backcountry skiers saw the ordeal Saturday, Jan. 20, near Cameron Pass’s North Diamond Peak and snapped the photo, which they submitted to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, the Fort Collins Coloradoan reported.
“The slide was just above him and I’m not sure if the slide carried him, but he was standing pretty close to the debris field,” one of the skiers named John McDonald told the outlet. “It was standing there looking really confused, and it looked like he couldn’t get to where he wanted to go.”
The area is in northern Colorado about 50 miles northwest of Boulder, but conditions are similarly dangerous across most of the state’s front mountain range, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center said on Facebook.
“This hard-slab avalanche was probably triggered from a distance by the moose,” the center said in the post. “The avalanche was medium-sized relative to the path and large enough to bury a person.”
The backcountry skiers told the Coloradoan they didn’t see anyone get caught in the avalanche.
“You know avalanche conditions are Badenov when we send Bullwinkle to do the avalanche investigations,” the center joked. “Fractured puns aside, more than half of the human-triggered avalanches this past week have been triggered from a distance. These remote avalanches highlight the sensitivity of the snowpack and how dangerous conditions are across many areas of the state. Avoid traveling across or underneath steep slopes.”
What to know about avalanches
Avalanches happen quickly and catch people by surprise. They can move between 60 and 80 mph and typically happen on slopes of 30-45 degrees, according to experts.
Skiers, snowmobilers and hikers can set off an avalanche when a layer of snow collapses and starts to slide down the slope.
In the U.S., avalanches are most common from December to April, but they can happen at any time if the conditions are right, National Geographic reported.
At least four people in the U.S. have died in avalanches this season as of Jan. 24, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. Eleven people were killed by avalanches in Colorado’s 2022-2023 avalanche season.
People heading into snow should always check the local avalanche forecast at Avalanche.org, officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture said, and have an avalanche beacon, probe and shovel ready.
“Emergency services are usually too far away from the scene of an avalanche, and time is important,” Simon Trautman, a national avalanche specialist, said. “A person trapped under the snow may not have more than 20 or 30 minutes. So, in a backcountry scenario, you are your own rescue party.”
If an avalanche breaks out, it’s best to move diagonal to the avalanche to an edge, Trautman said.
“Try to orient your feet downhill so that your lower body, not your head, takes most of the impact,” officials said. “You may also get into a tight ball as another way to protect your head.”
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