Sean P. MeansOne of the two men caught in an avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon this past weekend has died, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office reported Friday.
Kevin Williams, 57, died from injuries he suffered Saturday, when he was buried in a slide near Butler Fork in the canyon, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
According to a GoFundMe campaign launched Wednesday by friends, Williams was from Riverton. He is the fourth person in Utah to die in avalanches this month.
“This is a heartbreaking loss,” Sheriff Rosie Rivera said in a statement, in which she expressed her office’s “deepest condolences” to Williams’ family and loved ones.
The second man injured in Saturday’s avalanche, identified as 48-year-old Joshua Lemon, has been released from a hospital, the sheriff’s office said.
The men were backcountry skiing near the Butler Fork Trailhead around 10 a.m. when they triggered the avalanche, Rivera said Feb. 21. Eight nearby skiers who saw the slide helped pull the men from the snow, she said.
A Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter was able to hoist the men from the site and carry them to the Cardiff Fork Trailhead. Williams was flown by medical helicopter to Intermountain Medical Center, and Lemon was taken by ambulance for treatment.
Sean P. Means has been reporting and editing for The Salt Lake Tribune since 1991 — including 25 years as movie critic. Since 2018, he has reported on arts and culture reporter, and breaking news — and was part of The Tribune’s COVID-19 reporting team. He reviews movies for MovieCricket.net and X96’s “Radio From Hell” program.