Snowboarders facing criminal charges, $ 168,000 in restitution

In matters of the law, it’s true that anything you say can and will be used against you.

But in submitting his GoPro footage to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center in March, Vail resident Evan Hannibal said he wasn’t expecting his comments in the video would help establish a case against him resulting in a reckless endangerment charge and a potential $ 168,000 in restitution.

Hannibal was snowboarding with Summit County resident Tyler DeWitt on the west side of the Continental Divide on March 25 in the White River National Forest above the Eisenhower Tunnel.

DeWitt said when they reached the area they wanted to ride, he tried to release a small slab, but ended up seeing a much bigger reaction than the pair was expecting.

“I was trying to release the small wind- drifted slab that had been releasing naturally along this wall throughout the day,” DeWitt said. “I wanted this to slide before I was in the choke and still on shallow snow.”

Releasing the small slab led to a large avalanche. Hannibal and DeWitt watched it happen, then made their way down the avalanche debris to the bottom of the slope and called the incident into the authorities, giving statements to the Summit County Sheriff’s Department.

Brian Metzger, a special operations technician with the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, responded to the incident.

In his report, Metzger estimated that debris covering Loop Road above Eisenhower Tunnel was 20 feet deep in places.

“The debris on the road was deep enough to have trapped and or completely buried a vehicle,” Metzger wrote in the report.

Metzger said CDOT notified him that the avalanche control system had been destroyed.

“The two snowboarders were on the slope above the O’bellx system and triggered the avalanche which destroyed the system as it came down,” Metzger noted in the report.

A couple of weeks after the incident, Metzger contacted the Colorado Avalanche Information Center and received a copy of their report, along with Hannibal’s GoPro footage, which he had submitted.

Metzger received the GoPro footage on April 6 and reviewed the footage.

“Throughout the video there are several comments made about areas of concern,” Metzger wrote in the report. “The pair were clearly worried about avalanche conditions but proceeded down the path anyway. After the avalanche was triggered there was a comment made about how he hoped there was no one on the road. There was also a comment made about being in trouble if the cops show up.”