Avalanche
UPDATED 5/10/24 11:39 MT to add UAC preliminary report.
A group of three experienced backcountry skiers were swept away and buried in an avalanche on a slope called Big Willow Aprons on Lone Peak in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah, on Thursday, May 9, in the morning. Unified Police received an emergency call around 10:30 a.m. alerting them of an incident. When authorities got to the scene near Lone Peak at the western edge of Little Cottonwood Canyon, they found one skier who had been able to dig himself out while two remained missing.
“A group of three was ascending a slope called Big Willow Aprons. They had switched from skiing to boot packing and were near the top when the avalanche occurred.
The person in the lead was caught and carried downhill on the looker’s right side of a ridge or fin of rock. That person was partially buried and was able to self-extricate. The other two were caught and carried dowhill on the looker’s left side of the ridge feature. Those two were fully buried and unfortunately did not survive.
The Utah Avalanche Center will collect more information and provide a more detailed report as soon as possible.
*Avalanche details above are estimates from photos and will be updated as we learn more.”
A lengthy search was initiated, which was delayed by elevated avalanche risk for rescue crews. The two lost skiers were located in the afternoon and could only be pronounced dead at the scene. The two deceased skiers were identified by the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office as a 23-year-old and a 32-year-old male. The injured skier was reportedly able to walk but has been taken to hospital with minor injuries. The two deceased have not been recovered yet due to inclement weather conditions. According to Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera, recovery attempts will be postponed until tomorrow as it was unsafe for rescue workers today. “Conditions are really bad up there,” Rivera described the situation at Little Cottonwood Canyon.
There was no avalanche rating at the time of the incident, as the Utah Avalanche Center discontinued forecasts at the end of April. Daily forecasts ceased on April 14, and occasional updates were made where necessary. After a May storm dropped approximately 42 inches of snow from Sunday to Wednesday in the Little Cottonwood Canyon area, a fresh, non-bonded snow layer was on top of older snow.
The deaths are the first avalanche-related deaths of the 2023/24 season in Utah. Last season, three people died in avalanche-related incidents in Utah.
This is an evolving situation; we will share updates as they become available.
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