The backcountry off Berthoud Pass is avalanche terrain

Berthoud Pass is more than a drive into Grand County. The open bowls and trees on either side of the pass are a well-known place to ski and ride off-piste, and that beauty comes with a real hazard: this is avalanche terrain.

There is no ski patrol doing avalanche control out here. Once you step off the plowed road and onto a slope, you are in the backcountry, where the snow can slide and a slide can be deadly. Slopes steep enough to be fun are also steep enough to avalanche, and tracks from yesterday do not mean today is safe. Conditions change with each storm, wind event, and warm spell.

The standard tools are not optional for anyone going out: check the day’s avalanche forecast, carry a beacon, shovel, and probe, know how to use them, travel with a partner, and have real training. The Colorado Avalanche Information Center, the state’s avalanche center, publishes a forecast for this zone and offers education for people getting started.

Even if you never plan to ski it, this matters to neighbors and drivers too. Slides can run onto the road, and the area sees avalanche-control work in winter. Respecting the terrain keeps everyone safer.

Before any winter trip into the backcountry near the pass, read the current forecast from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.