Boundary Breakers Get Avalanche Option
Ski areas across Colorado are cracking down on out-of-bounds skiers, but Loveland has outdone them all with a choice of going to jail or being buried during an avalanche rescue drill.
“The sheriff talks to most of the people who have been caught and gives them the option. Most of them have chosen to be educated instead of going to jail,” said ski patroller Cathy Fraser.
As punishment, the errant skiers must excavate snow, form a cave and be buried alive buy ski patrollers.
“I think it was scary, though it helped a lot knowing that there were patrolmen there if the cave collapsed,” said Jesse Sikora of Boulder, who had been caught out of bounds with a friend.
Burying people to train dogs for avalanche rescue is routine for ski patrol units. Somebody knows where the victims are all the time. They have radios and a transceiver. They can take in a blanket if they want.
The radio lets them talk with patrollers outside, and the transceiver would help the patrol locate them in an emergency.
After the busted boarders and skiers are covered with snow, patroller Fraser and her dog, Angel, come over the hill and begin their search.
The other patrollers hang in the vicinity to make sure the person is excavated safely. Some spend up to 20 minutes in the cave.
Copper Mountain, with three times the skiers as Loveland, doesn’t have the time for a bury-yourself program. The mountain issues a fine, giving the violators the option of donating part of their fine to the Colorado Avalanche Center.
But before skiers can buy another Copper ticket, they must watch an avalanche video and write a summery of what they have learned.
Andrew Tashie, one of those who cooperated with Copper Mountain’s patrollers after being caught out of bounds, wrote the Western State College newspaper:
“I feel my predicament was stupid and could have been avoided…. Everyone loves the fresh tracks that Mother Nature so generously provides almost every season. Sometimes I think we love the powpow too much and we’ll do silly things.”
Tashie added: “As my brother and I found out, these rules are enforced.”