During filming, the special effects crew used Styrofoam to augment the "snow effects" of the avalanche. Once the spring thaw hit, Stryrofoam was discovered all over the Durango. By then, the company was long gone.
This box-office failure was one of New World Pictures' most expensive productions.
Meteoro (1979) ran into financial trouble after multiple special effects companies were fired for unsatisfactory work. American International Pictures purchased this film's avalanche effects footage to complete their avalanche sequence.
This film was featured as episode four of the first season of Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return (2018), on Netflix.
This film was sold to network television for $2 million.