OCR Text |
Show 1 During each winter in Colorado, usually considered to be from November 15 to May 1, hundreds of snow avalanches take place. Most of these are not observed nor do they cause damage. Several dozen fall in such a manner that they can be considered " close calls." Damage is done to man's installations, or man himself is involved but not injured seriously. Many of this type go unreported, known only to the person who was directly involved. Most all snow avalanches that cause death and large amounts of destruction are on record, usually in a newspaper's morgue room. Using the data available at the Denver Post and more recent data of the Forest Service, the following is a tabulation of avalanche fatalities which have occurred in Colorado. The writer has a feeling that this tabulation is not complete, especially from 1883 to 1950. This lack of completeness may be due to lack of reporting facilities and press of other business at a particular accident time. It is believed that records from 1950- 51 to present are complete. Notice that during the winter of 1905- 06 113+ persons were killed. Apparently the winter was so severe and avalanche activity so great that an accurate count was not possible. The tabulation has been segregated into winters. Following each winter is a total number of fatalities and following this number the class of person has been 1isted. This listing suggests that avalanches took a heavy toll of persons who were classed as miners. These occurred in the heyday of mining activity. In more |