Two experienced snowboarders who survived an avalanche near the Continental Divide in Colorado last year are now facing charges of reckless endangerment.
Tyler DeWitt and Evan Hannibal were on a backcountry snowboarding trip when the snow shifted and started a 400-foot wide avalanche that rushed 1,200 feet down the mountain. DeWitt and Hannibal managed to escape unharmed and called 911. They stayed in the area and provided information, along with photos and videos of what happened to authorities.
While they were not injured, the avalanche caused significant damage. A service road was buried under 20 feet of snow, and an avalanche mitigation unit was destroyed.
The two men thought that everything was fine but soon learned they were in trouble with the law. They are facing charges of reckless endangerment, and prosecutors want them to pay $168,000 in damages.
Prosecutors cited helmet camera video recorded by Hannibal when they filed the charges.
"We charged them with reckless endangerment because it was foreseeable they were putting other people at risk of serious bodily injury in that they recognized the potential for a slide and they could obviously see, right below their skis, I-70, where 100,000 cars go by each week," Bruce Brown, the district attorney for Colorado's 5th Judicial District, told the Colorado Sun last October. "They knew if there was a slide, it could end up on the roadway, endangering the traveling public."
While Summit County District Attorney Heidi McCollum has defended charging the two men, other officials believe it is unwise to file charges against them because it might deter others from helping the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) in the future.
"There is genuine concern by CAIC that if CAIC employees appear as an expert witness in a criminal matter, it could adversely impact their ability to gather relevant information from persons involved in an avalanche," the Colorado Attorney General's Office wrote in a court filing. "The more involved CAIC is in this criminal matter, the more it looks like they are working in coordination with law enforcement, rather than in cooperation with local law enforcement, resulting in a chilling effect to the detriment of CAIC's mission."
If convicted of the misdemeanor charge, DeWitt and Hannibal face up to six months behind bars.
Photo: Getty Images