While the backcountry has a dangerous snowpack that inexperienced skiers best approach with extreme caution, in-bounds terrain at the four area mountains of Aspen Snowmass is controlled and safe â when users uphold their end of the safety bargain.
âIt is very important for the public to understand that when we have runs closed, there is a good reason,â Aspen Skiing Co. vice president of communications Jeff Hanle said Monday.Â
Looking up from the top of Little Nell run to Silver Queen and environs, which slid recently and is currently closed.
Madeleine Osberger/Aspen Daily News
Over the weekend in the central mountains of Colorado, three backcountry skiers lost their lives in two separate accidents. On Friday, Jeff Schneider, a veteran ski patroller who had worked on snow safety at Aspen Highlands during the 1970s, was buried in a slide in the Anthracite Range, accessed off Kebler Pass in Gunnison County, while solo skiing.