Lack of snow makes avalanche mitigation much easier this year

A lack of snow in the central mountains has allowed the Colorado Department of Transportation to go easy on Independence Pass avalanche mitigation work, officials said.

CDOT crews routinely deploy charges to blast away excessive snow as an avalanche preventive, but along Colorado 82 over Independence Pass (altitude 12,095 feet), workers doing the annual mitigation duty needed only 20 charges Thursday compared with the 40 used last year.

As many as 50 charges have been used to detonate excess powder before the precarious road between Leadville and Aspen could open for the season, said CDOT spokesman Bob Wilson.

“The mountainsides along the Continental Divide just don’t have that much snow,” Wilson said. “It was a lot better this year in the sense that it was easier to mitigate any issues we might have opening the pass.”

CDOT uses the charges to bring down any heavy, loose snow above the highway that could pose a danger to motorists and cyclists on the road, Wilson said.

“If we can get rid of that, that reduces the danger that could be posed by potential avalanches,” Wilson said.

Wilson said the pass could get some snow this weekend but didn’t expect enough to complicate the situation.

The National Weather Service predicts a 60 percent chance of of precipitation in Aspen on Saturday with little or no snow accumulation expected.

Sunday is expected to see a slight chance of rain and snow showers.

The Independence Pass reopens Thursday, Wilson said.

Photos by Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post An avalanche bomb explodes in a large cornice above Colorado 82 as crews prepare to open the road over Independence Pass in time for Memorial Day.

Colorado Department of Transportation avalanche mitigation experts prepare to drop bombs from a helicopter to release any unstable snow above the winding, high-altitude highway between Leadville and Aspen.