Data shows there have been over three hundred avalanches in Colorado this weekend

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Year after year, Colorado is at the top of the list for states with the highest avalanche risk in the country. This weekend, that fact was evident as data shows there were over 300 small avalanches in our state as the arctic blast swept through.

The Colorado Avalanche Information Center says those numbers are related to weather patterns that make steep terrain specifically susceptible to avalanches.

"There's two main reasons. One is that we have we've had a pretty dry winter and especially dry few weeks kind of before this week. That means that the snow that's on the ground is quite weak. And then this week we had a whole bunch of kind of small snowstorms. So we were just piling up snow on top of that old weak snow just a little bit each day for like four or five days," Ethan Greene with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center said.

Greene is the lead of a team of 31 scientists in Colorado responsible for monitoring and predicting avalanches in the rugged terrain of Colorado. He's also responsible for the CAIC map, showing where the danger is the worst around the state.

To predict the level of danger in each area of Colorado, Greene says the scientists have to go back months, counting the snowpack and conditions.

"The layers in the snowpack are extremely important. Those are forming, you know, anytime there's snow on the ground. We may have accidents in April that are connected to weather events that happened in November," Greene said.

Greene also says Colorado is consistently the deadliest state in the nation for avalanche deaths.

"It's not something that we're proud of,  but it is the case," Green said.

This is why he emphasizes safety, especially when avid backcountry skiers are trying to navigate the rugged terrain. He also says skiers who stay on the slopes of ski resorts are safer because they put effort into avalanche mitigation.

"The best thing that you can do is not get caught,  because once you get caught in an avalanche, you don't have too many choices," Greene said.

He recommended every team that goes out has a shovel, a propole and rescue equipment. He also recommended that each group gets training on how to survive these conditions.

"Use the terrain to minimize your risk. And that's going to be your best approach if you do get caught in an avalanche," Greene said.