A 41-year-old woman from Crested Butte was killed in an avalanche Thursday near Ophir Pass north of Silverton.
Sarah Steinwand was snowboarding a line known locally as “The Nose” in the Mineral Creek drainage when she and her male partner were both caught in the slide. The male skier was able to ski out of the moving debris and avoid being buried.
Staff members from the nearby Opus Hut noticed the avalanche and alerted search and rescue before they went to help the male skier extricate his partner.
Silverton Medical Rescue and the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office responded a little after 1 p.m. to the scene west of U.S. Highway 550, about 5 miles south of Red Mountain Pass.
Steinwand was dug out by her partner and two staff members from the hut before first responders arrived, but did not survive, according to an initial report from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday, the San Juan County Coroner confirmed.
Steinwand was the founder of a public relations firm in Crested Butte.
Twenty-seven team members responded to the incident from Silverton Medical Rescue, La Plata County Search & Rescue, and the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office along with team members from Silverton Avalanche School, CAIC and Silverton Mountain, according to a news release.
Avalanche conditions have begun to settle following a large natural cycle that began after a significant storm deposited several feet of snow in the region last week.
The risk forecast by the CAIC dropped in that region from “considerable” above tree line and “moderate” near and below tree line on Wednesday to “moderate” at all elevations Thursday. Moderate conditions are a hazard level two of five and mean that natural avalanches are unlikely, but human-triggered avalanches are possible.
The CAIC has warned that moderate conditions does not mean the snowpack is safe – 40% of avalanche fatalities in Colorado happen in moderate conditions.
“With the recent quiet in the backcountry and a substantial reduction of human-triggered avalanches, it’s easy to look to steeper lines with curiosity and eagerness,” Thursday’s forecast for the region warned. “In times like these, thinking about mindset, risk, and decision-making in the backcountry is critical. Even if most avalanches have failed just beneath the new storm snow, that storm slab is deep.”
The Nose is a sparsely treed slope near tree line. In 2021, four backcountry skiers were caught in an avalanche on the same face, three of whom were killed.
This is the second fatal avalanche in Colorado of the 2024-25 season. The first occurred Jan. 7 just north of Red Mountain Pass, when a 57-year old Ridgway man skiing alone was caught and killed in a slide. Nationally, 11 people have died in avalanches this winter.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
