A group of 4 college students were caught in an avalanche which was triggered by one of the skiers while traversing a slope just below the summit on Cumberland Pass, which is about 25 miles east-northeast of Gunnison in the Sawatch Mountain Range. The entire slope at the 12,000 foot elevation fractured 6 feet deep and 1500 feet across and ran 400 vertical feet, scouring the snow along the slope…
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 group of 4 college students were caught in an avalanche which was triggered by one of the skiers while traversing a slope just below the summit on Cumberland Pass, which is about 25 miles east-northeast of Gunnison in the Sawatch Mountain Range. The entire slope at the 12,000 foot elevation fractured 6 feet deep and 1500 feet across and ran 400 vertical feet, scouring the snow along the slope all the way to the ground. The skier who triggered the avalanche was buried next to a tree which provided an air space that was crucial to his survival. The other three students which included a snowmobiler, a snowboarder, and another skier perished under the snow. This was the deadliest avalanche in Colorado since 1988.
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, West Elk and Sawatch Mountains/Taylor Park / W Lake / W Chaffee / Wc to Ec Gunnison | 1999-02-06 | 19 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| Avalanche, West Elk and Sawatch Mountains/Taylor Park / W Lake / W Chaffee / Wc to Ec Gunnison | 1999-02-06 | 20 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| Avalanche, West Elk and Sawatch Mountains/Taylor Park / W Lake / W Chaffee / Wc to Ec Gunnison | 1999-02-06 | 22 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, February 1999
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: 5688498.