3 teens trapped overnight in CO blizzard

This is not a gear/ prep story, its a 'What parent lets their 13 year old drive a sno machine into the mountains when a blizzard is predicted' story

It doesn't seem odd to allow a 13-year-old to tag along with two 17-year-old boys, assuming they're capable. In snow country, you might as well stay inside by the fire if no risk-taking is allowed.

I guess matches were the fire starters. What's going on with throwing a match in the gas tank? What's that all about?

A lot of young teens are allowed to go hunting or fishing with only slightly older friends. And a blizzard in CO is not as big of a deal as one in NYC.

I am not real worried about the age of the kids. The blizzard thing is a little more of an issue, but without knowing who knew what when, and exactly what they knew, i am not incliend to blame the parents. You cannot lock a teenager up to keep them safe.

Two of them had the same last name so probably an older brother of the 13 YO.

I was wondering the same thing. That sounds like it would only provide a few milliseconds of instant and intense heat, as you incinerated yourself. Maybe that's where the "minor injuries" reported in the article came from. Flames and snowmoble shrapnel.

I have no experience with snowmobiles. i have always used skis or snowshoes, but why would 2 to 3 feet of snow "stop" a snowmoile? It must have been an extremely powdery snow?

In deep snow it is indeed possible to get stuck. Snowmobiles depend on speed and 'floatation' in deep powdery snow, and riding in it actually feels like a watercraft. Machines rigged for those conditions have 'paddle tracks' which engage the powder more fully. The average snow depth might be three feet, but in ditches, depressions, grassey boglands, or along side a trail, it can be much deeper. If you go off trail and stop or tip over in deep snow, it can be very difficult to get going again. Something I have done in a similar situation was to stomp down a circle around the sled and drag the machine around and ride out on the track I made coming in. Not easy, as snowmobiles weigh 500 pounds and you're in waist-deep snow....Luckily, I had help.

Colorado is famous for temperature gradient snow where cold
temperature cause the
transformation of snow which produces powder-like snow. This "sugar snow" can set up conditions that cause avalanche and
also trap snow machines.

When searching for the lost in snow country, often it is important to use the same mode of transportation as the lost people. If you are looking for a snow mobile, use a snow mobile
for searching as it can travel far and will access the
same terrain. Ski searchers can get into places the snow machine
can't get to as a lost person on skis or snowshoes might very well travel following the path of least resistance (steep and deep, river bottoms) that would trap a machine.

When looking for a lost skier, being towed on skis by a snowmachine to the point last seen is a useful combination of the two methods.

Owner, Webmaster, Chief Product Tester & Columnist.

Glad to hear the kids were OK.

Yeah, high-altitude snow can be really fluffy and powder-like. The last several inches of the stuff we got here at the house was easily removed from the porch with a broom, owing to the fact that it was too cold and dry for the flakes to melt together. Sometimes you can just swish it off parked cars with hardly any effort at all.

Those spring storms, on the other hand...

Call me old fashioned, but I'd never let my 13 year tag along into the wilderness without an experienced adult. Better safe than sorry!