Eagle County backcountry days start with the CAIC avalanche forecast

If you ski, ride, snowmobile, or snowshoe in Eagle County’s high country in winter, avalanches are a real and local hazard, not a far-off one. The mountains around Vail Pass, the Gore Range, and the Sawatch hold avalanche terrain, and slides happen here most winters.

The good news is that Colorado has a state agency for exactly this. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center issues backcountry avalanche forecasts through the winter season, rating the danger by elevation and explaining the snowpack problems behind it. Much of Eagle County’s terrain sits in the center’s Vail and Summit County zone — but zone lines do not follow county lines, so terrain near the county’s edges can fall in a neighboring zone. Use the forecast map to find the zone that covers the exact place you are going, rather than assuming.

The habit to build is simple: check the CAIC forecast for your spot when you plan a trip, and look again the morning you go, because conditions shift with new snow and wind. A forecast is not a guarantee of safety, and traveling in avalanche terrain calls for training, the right gear, and partners who carry it too.

For the current avalanche forecast covering Eagle County, go to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center’s forecast page and read the zone for your destination before you head into the backcountry.