Remote-controlled avalanche exploders have been on Berthoud Pass since 2015. Are they working?
CDOT and the Colorado Avalanche Information Center operate 54 remote-controlled avalanche systems above Colorado mountain roads, but debris can still bury highways at the same rate as before
Ethan Greene/Colorado Avalanche Information Center
Remote-controlled avalanche mitigation in Colorado began in 2015 on Stanley Mountain above U.S. 40 on Berthoud Pass. The idea was that frequently triggered, remote-controlled explosions from the five Gazex exploders in the Stanley slide paths would prevent a large accumulation of snow and reduce the risk of unexpected, large avalanches burying the highway.
“But when you talk with the old guard avalanche workers, this theory has not been proven. There is still kind of an open question about whether this kind of (remote controlled avalanche) mitigation changes the return period of large avalanches,” said Ethan Greene, the executive director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. “Looking at the return rates of road hits on Stanley, and the rate has not changed much since the 1970s.”
When conditions align to produce large, destructive avalanches — a rare confluence of major snowstorms and high wind loading a weak, persistent layer buried in the snowpack — not even remote-controlled avalanche control systems work perfectly.
This winter CAIC and the Colorado Department of Transportation closed U.S. 40 on Berthoud Pass five times for avalanche mitigation, including a skier-throttling 78-hour total road closure over the MLK holiday weekend.
On Feb. 28, the Gazex exploders on Stanley created a very rare D3 avalanche that buried U.S. 40, forcing a closure for more than three-and-a-half hours. (D3 is defined as a “very large avalanche” that can bury and destroy a car, damage a truck and destroy a small building.) The slide was an example of the widespread persistent slide problem that CAIC is trumpeting to all backcountry travelers, warning of “valley-crushing” avalanches sliding on layers of faceted snow.
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