Massive Avalanche West of Denver Buries Cars

2:20 Eastern on January 6, 2007 in Denver, CO.

Courtesy of the Fox News Channel.

Just west of Denver, in the 1100 foot Berthoud Pass, a massive avalanche has buried several cars and pushed others over the edge on US Highway 40.

According to the Spencer Logan Avalanche Info Center, 6 people have been rescued and one of them has been hospitalized. The Colorado State Patrol says that officers have been able to reach two cars so far. US Highway 40 is currently shut down in this area for the rest of the day. Colorado State Patrol also says there were two vehicles in the initial accident.

There are many major Ski Resorts in this area, west of Denver. Darcy Morse, of the Winter Park Resort, warns people at the resort or near there that they need to make sure they don't try to go the wrong way on highway US 40. She also states that US Highway 40 is open in the other direction, so there is an alternate way to get down from the resort.

Denver officials are saying this is the largest avalanche they've ever seen. The avalanche has buried at least two cars and pushed an undisclosed amount of cars over the edge. Rescue crews are in the area and are attempting to help the people caught in this avalanche. So far, 6 people have been pulled out of the enormous avalanche.

Survival Expert, Greg Davenport, says "there isn't much you can do if you are in a car caught in an avalanche of this size." Davenport feels it is vitally important to get to the people involved in this accident as soon as possible as their oxygen will become scarce very quickly. One of the main worries in this situation is that the victims will run out of oxygen.

Over the past three weeks, Colorado has been hit with three major storms which have deposited an incredible amount of snow. If you recall, airports were shut down for several days before Christmas. Officials say this massive amount of older snow, new snow, strong winds and recent melting have all contributed to causing of this massive avalanche.