An experienced backcountry skier clung to trees twice Monday to escape separate avalanches in the Park City mountains, life-threatening evidence of the high danger of potentially deadly snow slides across northern Utah.
"He was uninjured, but this very experienced professional said he lost a couple years to his life by the event," Utah Avalanche Center forecaster Drew Hardesty said in his morning report Tuesday.
He said later that an avalanche advisory will be upgraded to a warning on Wednesday, when new snow added to Monday's extensive totals could push the threat from high to extreme. "We don't often get to that level," Hardesty added.
Monday's storm deposited 13-21 inches of snow in the Cottonwood canyons (25 on a ridge above Brighton), at one point pounding down at a rate of 4 inches per hour. The snow that fell in the mountains around Ogden, Park City and Provo was especially wet, containing almost two inches of water, Hardesty said.
The unidentified skier was along the Park City ridgeline when he triggered a slide 40 feet above him. It was 2-3 feet deep and 50 feet wide. He grabbed a tree as the snow bruised by.
"It's not over," Hardesty said. Trying to ski out of his predicament, another slab broke lose 100 feet above him. He skied quickly to another tree and held on as another avalanche washed through.
At a large slide site not far away, one of the concerning observations was that part of the fracture line occurred on a 15-20 degree slope, much more gradual than is usually considered vulnerable.
"The wheels are coming off," Hardesty said. "We're seeing natural [avalanches] on south-facing slopes, …remotely triggered slides on shadier aspects and very experienced workers getting surprised."
Sustained southwesterly winds of 35-40 mph, gusting to 70 mph before the mid-morning frontal passage, compounded problems on slopes that received the wind-driven deposits.
Winds of 15-20 mph should accompany intermittent snow showers most of Tuesday. Accumulations could reach 4-7 inches.
The National Weather Service forecast sees the next storm reaching northern Utah on Wednesday evening, continuing with increased intensity Thursday and producing mountain snow every day through at least Monday.
