A skier is recovering from an arm injury following an avalanche on Tuesday, April 30, in a backcountry area near Interstate 70 and the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels. 

The man was descending an open area above a narrow chute near the Whistler Cliffs area south of Coon Hill before the slide occurred, according to a Colorado Avalanche Information Center field report. He found a patch of wid-drifted snow that was not wet in the bowl and decided to travel further into the chute.

As he was exiting, a wet avalanche struck him from behind. He ended up on top of the avalanche debris except for his legs and was able to dig himself out before skiing to his car and seeking medical care for his arm injury.

He reported the slide so that search and rescue teams didn’t have to initiate a response. 

The field report says the avalanche was triggered while he was skiing the chute, gaining in speed and size as it traveled down the path before catching the skier.

Four avalanches have been reported in Summit County over the past seven days, two of which were triggered by backcountry recreationists. One of the reports was from the Coon Hill area. The group reported triggering a couple loose wet avalanches around 1:30 p.m. on May 3 while making their way down an east-facing slope.

Colorado Avalanche Information Center officials said Tuesday that a recent storm will likely increase risk in the backcountry after 10 inches of fresh snow, or more, fell across the region. 
This incident comes after a snowshoer fell off a cornice and triggered two avalanches while trying to get back up on a ridge and another incident where a party skiing Quandary Peak triggered an avalanche onto another group.