A 32 year old man was buried and killed in a sizable avalanche in the backcountry near the Aspen Highlands Ski Area. The man was participating in an avalanche awareness class in the Five Fingers Bowl.
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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 32 year old man was buried and killed in a sizable avalanche in the backcountry near the Aspen Highlands Ski Area. The man was participating in an avalanche awareness class in the Five Fingers Bowl. The victim was the third person to ski across a section of the slope when he fell and rolled which triggered the avalanche. The victim was swept nearly completely down the mountain side in a churning torrent of snow. The other skiers in the group descended the mountain and reached the debris field after 20 to 30 minutes. They pinpointed the victims transceiver signal and found him under 3 to 4 feet of snow, and performed CPR for at least an hour without success. The Pitkin County Corner's Office said the victim died from asphyxiation.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Grand Junction, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 6, 1:00 PM MST, 1 hour 44 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 100 PM MST SUN MAR 6 2005 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY)...WESTERN CO AND EASTERN UT REMAIN IN THE COL BETWEEN DRY NW FLOW OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES AND THE FLOW AROUND THE CLOSED LOW ALONG THE SRN AZ AND MEXICO BORDER. THE DEFORMATION ZONES BETWEEN THE TWO FLOW REGIMES MOVED QUICKLY SOUTH TO NM THIS MORNING. THE FOUR CORNERS REGION WILL SEE FAR LESS CLOUD COVER TONIGHT AS A RESULT...WITH LITTLE OR NO PRECIPITATION. A WEAK SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL RIDE DOWN THE EAST SIDE OF THE RIDGE OVER THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ROCKIES TONIGHT...PRODUCING HIGH THIN CLOUDS OVER THE CO NORTHERN MOUNTAINS. MONDAY SHOULD REMAIN DRY AND RELATIVELY WARM. ANOTHER WEAK SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL MOVE SE ALONG THE EAST SIDE OF THE RIDGE. THE TRAILING EDGE IS PROJECTED TO PASS OVER THE FORECAST AREA TUESDAY. THIS FEATURE DOESNT APPEAR TO BE CARRYING MUCH MOISTURE WITH IT...SO THE CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION SHOULD BE LOW. KEPT THE LOW END POPS IN THE CURRENT FORECAST. .LONG TERM (TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY)...PERIOD DOMINATED BY WEST COAST RIDGE AND BROAD TROUGH OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE CONUS. THIS KEEPS US UNDER DRY NORTHWEST FLOW WITH THE STORM TRACK GENERALLY TO OUR EAST THROUGH MOST OF THE PERIOD. TUESDAY NIGHT: A SECOND IMPULSE FOLLOWS TUES SHORTWAVE...HOWEVER THIS ONE TAKES A MORE EASTERLY TRACK THROUGH NE/KS. SOME COLD ADVECTION CONTINUES THROUGH THE NIGHT...HOWEVER THE ATMOSPHERE QUICKLY DRIES. WILL LEAVE SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR NOW OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS AS A FEW SHOWERS POSSIBLE ALONG THE DIVIDE. WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY: WEAK IMPULSES EMBEDDED IN THE NORTHWEST FLOW WILL CONTINUE TO BRUSH THE NORTHEAST CORNER. MOISTURE REMAINS LIMITED AND MAINLY HIGH LEVEL ON THE DOWNSTREAM SIDE OF THE UPPER RIDGE. SO NOT MUCH EXPECTED...EXCEPT MAYBE A FEW LIGHT AND HARD TO TIME SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE PARK AND GORE RANGES. TEMPS WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE THROUGH SAT. SATURDAY AND SUNDAY: GFS ADVERTISES A MORE WESTERLY TRACK THAN PREVIOUS IMPULSES FOR A STRONG COLD FRONT AND ITS ASSOCIATED SHORTWAVE ON SUN AS THE WEST COAST RIDGE RETROGRADES SOMEWHAT. THIS SOLUTION WOULD BRING AN INCREASED CHANCE OF PCPN TO THE AREA. MOISTURE INCREASES FROM THE NORTH ON SAT...HOWEVER THE BEST COOLING ACROSS THE AREA ON SUN IS TIMED WITH SIGNIFICANT DRYING. PLENTY OF UNCERTAINTY WITH THIS SYSTEM AS 12Z GFS NOT AS AMPLIFIED AS 00Z RUN. I EXPECT HANDLING OF THE PATTERN WILL CONTINUE TO EVOLVE IN FUTURE RUNS. SO WILL PRETTY MUCH LEAVE FORECAST AS IS FOR NOW. COOLER TEMPS STILL ON TAP FOR SUN. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .CO...NONE. .UT...NONE. && CJC/EH
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
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 | 2005-03-06 | 32 | Male | Other | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, March 2005
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: 5445472.