Telluride Avalanche 2024

Avalanche Mitigation above Telluride on Ajax Mountain sends a double avalanche over the cliff band.

[@jimbedford201]

Holy cow (as usual)! Even though this is done once or twice a year it never fails to astound. Later in the summer you can hike up to the base of the mountain and see pieces of huge trees that have been snapped into 5 and 10 foot lengths by the force of the slide. Great video.

[@olegoathiking1962]

Awesome to witness from the safety of my home.

[@Sushi2735]

WOW HOW AWESOME IS THAT 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@SkiBum6062]

Was that a 20 second delay from seeing the blast til hearing it? Great video thanks

[@Kenbaileyfilms]

Yes it was. Interesting how sound travels.

[@torreyintahoe]

Starting avalanches with dynamite is one of the funnest things I've ever done.

[@spencerimre]

That's not at the resort is it? Why are they doing mitigation out of bounds?

[@Kenbaileyfilms]

Historically the mitigation was to protect the Idarado mine and its employees. Now hikers, home owners, drivers on the county road and ice climbers use the area. Mitigation occurs once or twice a year.

[@sypatel1]

That is the mountain just East of the town of Telluride at the end of the Valley. You can not see the town in the video but its really close. Many people go on the mountain or close to its base when weather gets better and do hikes. They do not want a slide to happen in April and May when there will be many people there

[@gregb3457]

@@sypatel1 Thanks so much. I couldn't place it, although I have been there. So, yes, now I understand, the town of T. is to the left, just out of sight. But, If I recall properly, there was a narrow-gauge railway track for the mine much further down the road, down the valley, with couloirs which were hyper dangerous in snows like this. Those avalanche prone couloirs were the historical reason for the name Telluride, not the ones shown in this video. Right? Did they mitigate down there too?

[@oldfarmer9004]

There! Now you can ski down that little hill.

[@ellenritt7667]

Why prime time?