SILVERTON, Colo. — The Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) released a 25 page report Wednesday detailing Colorado's first avalanche death of the season.
The incident happened on Saturday January 5, in the Upper Senator Beck Basin, northwest of Red Mountain Pass.
It was a very unusual situation, as the incident happened during the second day of a three-day advanced avalanche safety course, and all six skiers involved were experienced in the winter backcountry.
The victim, 40-year-old Pete Marshall, lived and worked in Longmont, Colorado.
Friends described him to 9NEWS as a husband, a father, and a great man that inspired them to be better people, and better skiers.
"Pete went out of his way to be a good person, and brought everyone around him to a higher level," friend Andy Reiner said.
Reiner was not with Marshall the day of the avalanche but skied the Colorado backcountry with him before.
"On one snowy trip to Cameron Pass, he stopped three separate times with his truck to rescue cars stuck on the side of the road in ditches without cell service," Reiner said. "I will miss Pete forever."
Marshall's friends also said Pete was as an experienced and responsible backcountry skier.
He signed up for a level-2 AIARE avalanche safety course with the well-respected Silverton Avalanche School, and was in a group of six, including one instructor, when the avalanche broke loose.
“To be involved in an accident like that is terrible, it’s a tragic event,” Ethan Greene, Director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, said. “Especially this group of people. It’s an advanced class, so they’re really trying hard, they’re taking additional training to learn more about avalanches, to learn more about avalanche safety, and to see it turn into your worst nightmare, a fatal accident, is a horrible thing.”
Greene said the Silverton Avalanche School is one of the most renowned and respected schools in the country, and by all accounts both they and their students did everything right the day of that incident.
But the CAIC does point out a few instances in their report that could have increased the chances of Marshall's survival.
All six skiers were caught in the slide. The report says that safe travel protocol is for a group to travel one-at-a-time through avalanche prone areas. In this instance, it says four members of the group where just side stepping down the top of the slope to maintain line of sight with the first skiers down, the second of which was Marshall.
Not necessarily the wrong thing to do, but there could be a lesson in that decision.
“We are not telling people that what they did in the backcountry, in an avalanche, is good or bad. We’re here to inform and educate people,” Greene said.
Greene said that most avalanches occur on slopes of 30 degrees or steeper. The report said the group thought they were on a slope of 29 degrees, but it actually turned out to be 32 degrees. The report says it's possible the group may have noticed that if they remeasured the slope angle when they got to the terrain feature.
The report also says that Marshall had an airbag pack on but the trigger cord was not pulled. He was hit by a second avalanche, remotely triggered by the energy of the first slide. He was buried in nearly 10 feet of snow for about 50 minutes before being extracted.
“He always talked about his family that meant so very much to him”, Reiner said.
Marshall leaves behind a wife and two daughters. An account has been set up for memorial donations in his daughter name, Jade Marshall.
Adams Bank and Trust
c/o Jade Marshall
10 Ken Pratt Boulevard
Longmont, CO 80501