East Riverside Slide Memorial Silverton Colorado

by Janice Pariza

Title

East Riverside Slide Memorial Silverton Colorado

Artist

Janice Pariza

Medium

Photograph - Photograph Art

Description

A Photograph which the town of Silverton, Colorado erected.
Here is a narrative from someone who was there.
Ron Trujillo, Ouray: I know exactly where the East Riverside Snow Slide monument is: At mile marker 88 on U.S. Hiway 550, about 5 miles south of my hometown of Ouray. It contains three names: Robert Miller (1970), Terry Kishbaugh (1978), and Eddie Imel (1992) and is adjacent to the monument to the Rev. Hudson and his two daughters killed in 1963. The short snow shed over was constructed in 1985, and I worked there for a short time.

I was a freshmen at Ouray High in March 1970 when a deputy sheriff came to our shop class looking for volunteers to go up to a fresh avalanche and begin a probe line for Robert Miller's truck. There was no hesitation. We all jumped at the chance to help out. We probed for a couple of hours before it was decided that it was too dangerous, although nothing else came down that afternoon. I believe that the truck and body was found the next day, unlike in 1963, when all victims were not recovered for a month or longer. In the 1992 event, it could easily have been two victims but Dan Jaramillo was able to dig himself out(after rescue was called off!) and used the emergency telephone in the south end of the snow shed to call out for help. But that is another story.

Jamee Case, Gunnison: This monument was erected to honor the three dedicated CDOT snowplow drivers Robert F. Miller, Terry L. Kishbaugh and Eddie Imel who were killed in separate avalanches on Red Mountain Pass. It is considered to be one of the most dangerous avalanche prone passes in the state. The Colorado Avalanche Center has identified 101 avalanche chutes on both sides of Highway 550 and 57 of them are active enough to have names.

I was a student at Ft. Lewis College when on February 10, 1978. Terry L. Kishbaugh was plowing the Red Mountain Pass road. A bus with students from Ft. Lewis College traveling to a swim meet waited as he plowed,and then watched in horror as an avalanche swept him and his plow off the pass. The grief-stricken students had to return to Durango, never making it to the meet.

Pat Mastin, Aurora: June, 1973 over Father's Day, I, my wife and daughter, left our home in Colorado Springs, traveled to Durango, then north on Highway 550, intending to make a loop, and return to Colorado Springs. We were driving in our 1973 GMC truck and 8-foot camper, intending to stop and camp on the way. I had lived in Colorado all of my life. I was 32 at the time, and had been driving since my 16th birthday.

On the way up Red Mountain Pass, it became necessary to take 2 or 3 back-and-forth maneuvers to go around some corners. In some places, it appeared to have a drop off of 2,000 feet. There were occasional patches of snow.

By the time we got to the bottom of the pass, I, and my wife, were nervous wrecks. I stopped in the first parking lot, started coffee, and stayed the night after asking permission of the restaurant owner.

I told my wife that I would not EVER drive that road again! I have not ever driven highway 550 again!

Marty McKean, Cortez: I remember it well as I was biking from Durango to Ouray on the very long first day of the 2008 Bicycle Tour of Colorado. I was wondering if I would be another casualty of the infamous road that took the lives of three highway workers in avalanches.

Carol Junkunss, Fort Collins: This memorial marker is strategically placed on the treacherous, steep climb up 11,000-foot Red Mountain Pass, the stunning but perilous two-lane road up and out of beautiful Ouray. It commemorates the snowplow drivers who lost their bearings, catapulting off the road to their deaths while endeavoring to make that climb safer for the rest of us. I first noted the unforgettable marker on a lovely October day, but a few years later, when attempting that passage in a miserable, white-out snowstorm, I couldn't see it, but was keenly aware of its presence as I struggled to get my car safely through the terrifying blizzard encompassing the mountain.


Barbara Morss, Ouray: "Red," as it is known locally, is one of the most beautiful drives in the U.S., and is a road that commands all of your attention, and all of your respect, any time of the year. It's a breathtaking drive all the way to Silverton (23 miles south of Ouray). I've driven this road many times since moving here in 1975, and never lost my awe of the engineering it took to build the road and for the CDOT employees who keep it open in the winter.

Barbara MorssJay Sproul, Boulder: This is a monument to the seemingly fearless snowplow drivers who lost their lives in an avalanche while trying to keep clear a stretch of The Million Dollar Highway south of Ouray. Highway 550 is the only link to Silverton and Durango from Ouray. It is scarily narrow in places, with breathtaking dropoffs on the west side. A flatlander's nightmare, and absolutely terrifying when an eighteen-wheeler comes in the other direction. Winter is insane. I have had more than one white-knuckle drive along there summer and winter, but the beauty is awesome.

Dan Primus, Gunnison: This is a memorial to the three snowplow drivers (Robert Miller, 1970, Terry Kishbaugh, 1978, and Eddie Imel, 1992) who have lost their lives on Red Mountain Pass due to avalanches. Nearby is a memorial marker to Rev. Marvin Hudson and his daughters, Amelia and Pauline, who lost their lives in an East Riverside avalanche in 1963. The East Riverside slide is amazing. The slide path begins 3,250 feet above the Highway 550. A friend of mine, Art Mears, was a consultant who helped design the East Riverside Snowshed. He explained the minimum recommended length was 400 feet, and when finally built, due to budget limitations, it was only 180 feet long. Even at that, it has likely saved lives.


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Uploaded

November 25th, 2013

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