Visitor Preparedness

Colorado Backcountry Winter Safety Awareness Campaign

Last winter, faced with a surge of travelers into Colorado's backcountry and limitations on promotion, Cathy Ritter built a coalition of state agencies and outdoor recreation interests in fielding a season-long Colorado Backcountry Winter Safety Awareness campaign. Among the positive outcomes was a finding that no backcountry novices — the target of the campaign — perished in a treacherous year for avalanche.

Central to the campaign was a Backcountry Winter Safety microsite that included a safety pledge, a list of online and in-person safety classes, alerts to danger areas, safety guidance for specific sports and a way to donate to Colorado Search and Rescue operations. The four-month campaign included a :30 video, digital and social messaging and outperformed campaign benchmarks.

The Colorado Backcountry Winter Safety Campaign for the winter of 20/21 was pure and simple a lifesaver and the realization of a new way of thinking about the Colorado outdoor recreation economy. This collaborative campaign, spearheaded by Cathy Ritter, rallied a large and diverse coalition of the outdoor recreation industry around two goals: proactive public outdoor recreation education and protecting the Colorado backcountry search and rescue resources. While Colorado experienced a record-tying year for avalanche deaths, none were from the demographics targeted by the coalition. The obvious success of this approach is now continuing and will likely become a standard of responsible tourism.

Jeff Sparhawk President Colorado Search and Rescue Association