1:30
- ABC News
- February 11, 2021
Experts warn of danger after deadly avalanches
So far this winter, 22 people have died in avalanches.
Gordon said that skiers may have a false sense of security if they are carrying rescue gear, when the main objective should be avoiding an avalanche in the first place.
\"It's like, everybody wants to know CPR, but you don't ever want to have to use it,\" he said.
With several more weeks of the season still to go, Ballinger hopes backcountry skiers will exercise caution and \"reel it in.\"
\"The danger is still absolutely lurking out there,\" Ballinger said. \"We're all about to get more snow. And so that adds risk because of more weight on the snowpack, and it adds excitement. For most of us, we haven't skied that much powder this year.\"
Greene also stressed that people check the avalanche forecast before they go out into the backcountry.
\"It's really important to make sure to know what the conditions are going to be, what you expect to see, and to make sure what you're doing fits that,\" he said.
ABC News' Zohreen Shah, Connor Burton, J. Gabriel Ware and Matthew Fuhrman contributed to this report.
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