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2025 Archive Index - All Editions

Intense Footage of Avalanche in Georgia

Nikolai Schirmer captured a video of a huge avalanche on February 22 at the Bakhmaro ski area in Georgia. He posted the video on Instagram and described his decision to stay out of avalanche terrain that day. “We made the call to wait out this first sunny day after the storm and stay out of avalanche terrain. Pretty rare to get this kind of feedback on your decision making, watching another group make the opposite call. Glad everyone was okay,” Schirmer wrote in an Instagram post.

Bakhmaro is a ski resort in the Lesser Caucasus Mountains of Georgia, near the town of Bakhmaro. The Bakhmaro resort is located at 1,926-2,050 meters above sea level. The resort is known for its cat skiing and heli-skiing. The town of Bakhmaro, Georgia, has been hit with snowstorms since February 18. The National Environmental Agency reports that snow is expected again in Western Georgia from February 23-25, with heavy snowfall in some areas.

[The snow has continued in full force in western Georgia creating emergency conditions in many small villages in the Guria region. Up to 2 m is on the ground, roads are impassible, and utilities are out.]
More ... (Snowbrains)
Video (Direct Link to Instagram)

Dutch Draw avalanches took lives, so the gate was closed

Backcountry access gates along the Park City Ridgeline offer easy access to alluring powder turns and fields of untracked snow — as long as you are willing to cross the threshold of dire warnings and quite real risk to your life. The gate at the top of Park City Mountain’s 9990 lift was closed following a fatal avalanche that killed a snowboarder in January 2021 in Dutch Draw. The popular backcountry area, which also recorded avalanche deaths in 2019, 2012 and 2005, is still accessible through the remaining gate at Peak 5, though it requires a nearly 700-foot climb to reach the same spot at the top of 9990. This shift, while meant to discourage casual and ill-prepared skiers, has not eliminated the dangers associated with the terrain.
More ... (Park Record)

Skier buried in Dutch Draw avalanche shares story

PARK CITY, Utah (KUTV) — A backcountry skier was fully buried by an avalanche remotely triggered on the Park City ridgeline in the Dutch Draw area on February 8, 2025. Maria, who did not want her identity shown, described being partially buried by a first wave of snow that came down from the slide and fully buried by the second wave.

"When I saw the avalanche, it was too late to turn around and ski to the side and I was afraid if I did that, it would knock me out and I would be face down so I faced my skis down and starting skiing as fast I could and it caught up on me," said Maria, who was the first skier in her group to ascend the slope. "The first part of it buried me up the waist pretty much, and I lifted my pole just incase I got fully buried." Maria was fully buried by the slide. Her arm was over her head. Another person in the group started using their avalanche rescue equipment to locate Maria, who was wearing a beacon.
More ... (KJZZ)

Snow Removal Worker Buried in Avalanche

A worker in Turkey is lucky to be alive after getting buried in a recent avalanche. And the whole ordeal—from the moment he got hit to the subsequent rescue efforts—was all caught on video. In the footage, which was shared to social media by AccuWeather over the weekend, the man was operating a CAT vehicle to assist with snow removal efforts in the Sirnak Province in Turkey when suddenly a wall of snow could be seen barreling straight at him. The camera gets rocked at the moment of impact, and the vehicle seems to roll over at least once before it finally comes to a rest, with the man buried inside.

"The machine is completely stuck in the snow. I can't move at all," he could be heard saying from inside, with only a small hole letting light and air in. Video taken from outside shows the massive construction vehicle both covered and filled with snow, as responders used shovels in an attempt to dig out the trapped worker.
More ... (Mens Journal)
Video (Direct Link to accuweather and video)