Brief by Allen Best
Recreation – March 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
In 1987, four young men died in an avalanche adjacent to the Breckenridge ski area. After that, Summit County Sheriff Delbert Ewoldt announced a new policy, one limiting access to the backcountry from ski areas.
Possibly for that reason, Summit County has fallen to No. 2 among Colorado counties in avalanche deaths recorded since 1950, reports the Summit Daily News. It has had 36 avalanche fatalities, compared to 37 in Pitkin County, where Aspen and Snowmass are located. Clear Creek County, on the eastern slope, ranks third, and Gunnison County, with 17 deaths, ranks fourth.
Colorado leads the nation in avalanche deaths since 1950 with 216, followed by Alaska with 118 and Utah with 88.