An avalanche destroyed a cabin near Silverton last month.

Jim Donovan, director of San Juan County’s Office of Emergency Management, said the cabin was hit by a slide during the height of unprecedented avalanche activity in March.

Fortunately, it was a cabin used only in summer, he said, so no one was inside or injured.

Donovan said the cabin was relatively new, and the homeowners, who live in New Mexico, were aware that the location they were building in was an avalanche path.

Donovan declined to give the exact location of the slide, but he said the avalanche path has a “1 in 50 year” probability of running.

“They basically built it in that area with the understanding it was a known slide area,” he said.

Attempts to contact the homeowners were unsuccessful Monday morning.

Donovan said road crews were still clearing the county roads around Silverton, so access to the cabin was difficult.

Jason Ebelheiser, a photographer with JPE Films, took photos of the destroyed cabin with a drone.

DeAnne Gallegos, director of the Silverton Area Chamber of Commerce, said she hiked to the area to see the damage.

“It’s just obliterated,” she said. “All you can see are the smatterings of a cabin.”

Donovan said the homeowners returned to Silverton to visit the demolished cabin.

jromeo@durangoherald.com