A skier triggered a soft-slab avalanche in Ophir Gulch while traversing beyond the boundary of the Aspen Mountain Ski Area at the 10,000 foot level. The avalanche path was 500 feet wide and carried the victim down 380 vertical feet.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
A skier triggered a soft-slab avalanche in Ophir Gulch while traversing beyond the boundary of the Aspen Mountain Ski Area at the 10,000 foot level. The avalanche path was 500 feet wide and carried the victim down 380 vertical feet.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalanche, Gore and Elk Mountains/Central Mountain Valleys/Aspen and Vicinity | 1998-03-08 | 43 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, March 1998
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5638304.