Blasting for safety at Star

Photo: Contributed

Ski patrollers with SilverStar Mountain Resort are using explosives to bring down any area suspected of being unstable.

Ski patrollers with SilverStar Mountain Resort are using explosives to stabilize parts of the mountain.

Ian Jenkins, with SilverStar, said some members of the ski patrol have been trained to use charges to bring down suspected avalanche areas.

A man was seriously injured Wednesday when an inbounds isothermal avalanche rolled down the mountain in the The Putnam Creek area, also known as the backside, which has been closed since the incident.

Independent avalanche experts are en route to conduct an assessment on the entire mountain.

Jenkins said the Alpine Meadows Chair on the frontside has also been closed as a precaution.

A small slide was reported on the frontside Wednesday as well, but no one was near the avalanche at the time.

Skiers are still taking to the slopes and a picture posted on social media shows side-by-side slides with some wondering if another avalanche occurred, but Jenkins said the latest slide was intentional.

“We did some avalanche control after hours last night,” said Jenkins. “We did have one area near the gondola that did slide while we were doing after hours avalanche control. We set off charges to cause the avalanche.”

Jenkins said using small explosive devices is common practice to stabilize and area.

“We are continuously checking it with our ski patrollers and we were fine in the morning with Alpine Meadows, but as the day goes on and the snowpack heats up, we just felt it prudent to close that area again.”

The frontside area closure is the Attridge Face that includes everything east of the gondola.

Jenkins said the closures will have no impact on the SEISMIC event that kicked off today.