Mammoth Mountain temporarily closed at midday on Friday after two ski patrollers were caught in an avalanche, causing serious injuries to one.
The recent atmospheric river storm had dumped about 6 feet of snow on the mountain in 36 hours and the two patrollers were conducting “avalanche mitigation” work on expert terrain, according to an Instagram post from Mammoth officials.
One of the patrollers was “extracted” from the avalanche and was responsive, according to the post, while the other was transported to a Mammoth area hospital with “serious injuries”.
After big storms, ski patrollers routinely close steep terrain to the public and deliberately set off avalanches. They use explosives to get large, potentially catastrophic stashes of snow sliding. For smaller stashes, they often just use their skis. The idea is to remove the threat in a safe and orderly fashion, when there’s nobody downhill who can be buried.
But it doesn’t always work out that way. Avalanches can be extremely unpredictable. Last year, at Palisades Tahoe, four skiers were caught in an avalanche shortly after lifts opened following a big storm. One man was killed and another was injured.
On average, more than 20 people are killed each year by avalanches in the United States, according to data provided by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. Almost all of the victims are backcountry skiers and snowmobilers taking their chances on remote slopes that aren’t controlled by ski patrollers.
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