SALT LAKE CITY — A man snowmobiling with his young son was killed following an avalanche near Midway in Wasatch County on Wednesday afternoon.
The Wasatch County Sheriff's Office said the man and his son were snowmobiling at around 4 p.m. in the Snake Creek area west of Midway when the avalanche occurred. The sheriff's office, along with Wasatch County Search and Rescue and Wasatch Fire District, responded to the Big Flat area after receiving the call, but found the avalanche site to be unsafe.
A further investigation found that the father had been caught up and buried by the slide. Despite being located and dug out of the snow by his juvenile son, the man died.
The name of the man killed has not been released.
Forecastasters with the Utah Avalanche Center will be heading to the avalanche site on Thursday to continue the investigation.
The death came on the day when several human-caused avalanches were reported in Utah.
According to the Utah Avalanche Center, 18 avalanches were reported on Wednesday, with 8 considered to be caused by either a skier or someone on a snowmobile.
Besides the fatal avalanche in Wasatch County, two skiers were partially or completely buried in an avalanche near Park City.
Many of Utah's ski resorts were swarmed with people on Wednesday after an overnight storm dumped feet of fresh powder onto the slopes. A few of the resorts were forced to close early out of caution for the safety of the heavy crowds.
In the days leading up to this week's storms that finally brought significant snowfall totals to the snow-starved region, officials had warned people of avalanche dangers.
'Powder Alert!' Ski resorts bask in much-needed snowfall:
"The incoming storm will overload widespread fragile layers of weak, faceted snow that formed during the mid-winter dry spell. This setup is well known for producing dangerous, unpredictable avalanches that can be triggered remotely and break much wider and larger than expected," the center wrote earlier in the week.
Of the 18 reported avalanches on Wednesday, over half (10) were located in the Salt Lake area, where popular ski resorts were inundated with guests. The others occurred in the Logan region and Uinta Mountains.
The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office issued its own warning late Wednesday, warning people heading into the mountain areas about avalanches, saying the sudden weather changes in the Cottonwood canyons had "created instability in the backcountry.:
“This winter has created layers within the snowpack that can be unpredictable,” said Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera. “We want people to enjoy the Cottonwood Canyons, but safety must come first. When conditions are unstable, the smartest decision may be to avoid backcountry recreation altogether.”
The sheriff's office advised those heading into the backcountry to carry the proper avalanche gear, such as a beacon, shovel and probe, and to check weather conditions before heading out.
