Rescue is a coordinated response from local law enforcement, highly trained volunteers, flight for life, and paramedics. There have been zero avalanche deaths from people recreating inbound, showcasing the dangers of being out-of-bounds. At least 15 of these deaths were skiers in the backcountry. In the U.S., as of April 9, there has been a record 37 avalanche-related fatalities in the 2020-21 season. The increased traffic combined with weak snowpack means that Colorado has experienced sharp rise in avalanche deaths. You may see some elements that you remember like a tree stand or something, but everything around it has changed.” Dale Atkins talks with fellow avalanche rescue teams at a media event on Vail PassĪs a global pandemic swept across the United States, more and more people took refuge in the idyllic backcountry of the west. “Then, when the dust settles, things look totally different. Really the entire hill is breaking away from the terrain and you're on it,” explains Green. “The avalanche really feels like the entire hillside is moving, it is not that you are caught up in this light, fluffy snow flow. Though avalanches are often thought of as a naturally occurring phenomenon, 90 percent of avalanches are triggered by humans, according to National Geographic.Īvalanches appear to be made of sliding snow, but Greene describes these natural disasters the way he has witnessed them. Avalanches: Colorado’s Winter DangerĪn avalanche occurs when snow, rock, and other debris are released from a steep mountain slope. In the winter months, these technical rescues often involve avalanches. Twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week, Atkins and the other Alpine Rescue Team members are available to perform emergency assistance to Coloradans in need. Inspired by his time in the boy scouts and an adolescence spent in the outdoors, Atkins became an Alpine Rescue volunteer at the age of just 14 years old.
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These groups, like the Alpine Rescue Team, based in Evergreen, Colorado, provide free rescue services for people who get caught in a bad situation outdoors. “I have never been on a rescue where we have found someone who survived an avalanche burial, but I know it happens,” says Atkins.ĭespite those slim odds, volunteer mountain rescue groups are dedicated to saving lives in the backcountry.
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“The avalanche is such a violent experience, it is going to pack snow in your eyelids in your ears and your airway, and if your airway is packed full of snow you have got four to six minutes before you are going to die,” says Ethan Greene, director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. In many cases, he’ll already be too late. When Dale Atkins gets an alert on his cell phone that an avalanche has occurred, it will only be a matter of minutes until he has packed his car, grabbed food, and is on his way to the avalanche site.
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© 2006-2022 Aiut Alpin Dolomites.Editor's note: This Colorado Voices story was produced by DU journalism students as part of an ongoing partnership between Rocky Mountain PBS' Colorado Voices series and the University of Denver.ĮVERGREEN, Colo.
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It is formed by seventeen individual Mountain Rescue Teams which are associated and operate mainly in the Ladin Valleys of the Dolomites mountains.Īl Plan de Mareo (San Vigilio di Marebbe)
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It is an voluntary association registered in the Authorities of Social Economic Utility Registrar (Onlus). What is ‘Aiut Alpin Dolomites’ (in Ladino meaning: ‘mountain rescue in the Dolomites’). Aiut Alpin Dolomites - Mountain Rescue - Dolomites - South Tyrol (Province of Bolzano), Trentino (Province of Trento), Belluno - Alps - Europe - ItalyĪiut Alpin Dolomites Aiut Alpin Dolomites