Avalanche
On Sunday a 45-year-old male snowboarder left the Canyons Village of Park City, UT via the backcountry exit gate at the top of the 9,990′ lift to access Dutch Draw. Part of the way down a backcountry slope (Conehead area of Dutch Draw), he triggered and was caught, carried and killed in an avalanche. Officials described the avalanche as “significant” in size.
Crews were able to dig him out of the snow by about 12:20 pm, the sheriff’s office said, but life-saving efforts were unsuccessful.
“We offer our sincere condolences to the family,” the sheriff’s office said.
The Conehead area of Dutch Draw along the Park City ridgeline is steep, rocky, avalanche-prone terrain and was the site of an avalanche fatality in February 2012. The avalanche is adjacent to a cliff band on an east-northeast facing slope at roughly 9,600′.
The death is the second of this winter season in North America, following an avalanche in Colorado last week that claimed the life of a female backcountry skier.
