Dangerous avalanche conditions are expected to last through the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
The warning comes as four people already have been killed in avalanches in Colorado since Dec. 26, a center news release stated.
“We have seen more avalanches this year than we do on a typical year, and recently they’ve gotten much bigger,” Ethan Greene, director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center stated in the release. “We want everyone to enjoy the wonderful public lands in Colorado, and go home alive and well to their family and friends on Monday.”
According to the CAIC, the amount of snowfall that came early in the season mixed with the recent heavy snowfall in December and January is the cause of the critical conditions. CAIC recommends people check the avalanche forecast before going into the backcountry, and carry an avalanche-rescue transceiver, a probe pole, and a shovel.
CAIC also has a mobile app that projects the avalanche forecast, which can be found at state.us20.list-manage.com/track/click.
“We need everyone headed into the backcountry to plan their trip carefully and make sure they avoid avalanche hazards,” Greene said in the release. “We need to stop this deadly trend.”