Two skiers dead in avalanche in Little Cottonwood Canyon

Two skiers died in an avalanche near Lone Peak Summit in Little Cottonwood Canyon on Thursday. The men were 23 and 32 years old, according to Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera. She said one is from the Salt Lake City area and the other is from out of state.

A third backcountry skier was delivered to a staging area at a park off Wasatch Boulevard by a Salt Lake County Search and Rescue volunteer on hoist attached to a helicopter early Thursday afternoon. The man, wearing a lightweight pullover and ski pants, walked to an ambulance, which left without switching on its siren or lights. Rivera said late Thursday afternoon that she did not know if he had been released from the hospital.

The survivor, whom Rivera said is also from the Salt Lake City area, and the other two men are believed to be friends. Their names are being withheld to give authorities time to notify their families.

Avalanche danger still exists in the area where the slide occurred, she said. That, combined with stormy weather, disrupted recovery efforts. Rescuers set off some explosives — similar to the precautions taken at ski resorts on a powder day — on Thursday to make the area safer for retrieving the bodies of the two skiers. Still, as rain pelted down on her, Rivera said the decision had been made to pause further efforts until Friday morning.

Helicopters were deployed for both the rescue and recovery efforts, she added, due to the ruggedness of the terrain.

The men were hours into the hike up to Lone Peak area from Hidden Valley Park in Draper when the avalanche hit, according to Craig Gordon, a lead forecaster for the Utah Avalanche Center, who was involved in the rescue operations. Gordon said he was not on scene but from pictures estimates it was at least 100 feet long and several feet deep.

Rivera said the 911 call, which Rivera said she believes was made by the survivor, came in around 10 a.m.

“He was able to dig himself out,” she said. “He was in pretty fair conditions other than mentally going through something like this is extremely scary.”

The survivor, Gordon said, was able to find the other skiers and attempt a rescue.

“This crew had all the right gear: avalanche transceiver, shovels, probes. They were on their game,” Gordon said. “Things went sideways. This gentleman helped to keep the guardrails on and I commend him for all of his heroic efforts.”

The avalanche took place near Big Willow Cirque, one of the lower flanks of Lone Peak. Though it is located near the base of the canyon and is accessible from the park, Jeff Mikaelian, an avid Wasatch Front backcountry skier, said the Lone Peak area is not very popular for backcountry touring. He said the long, arduous hike and relative difficulty in reaching the snow compared to the terrain around Alta and other higher-elevation locales typically serves as a deterrent.

“Usually,” Mikaelian said, “only very motivated people ski it.”

Evan Thayer, a forecaster for the site OpenSnow.com, reported on his X account (formerly Twitter) Wednesday that Alta Ski Area received 42 inches of snow since Sunday. That’s the most snow there in May, he said, since 1993.

The skiing has been “amazing” recently, Gordon said, because of the thick snowfall that has remained light in the higher elevations. He cautioned, though, that especially in spring, conditions can change in an instant.

When asked whether avalanches are common around Lone Peak, Gordon said the area is so infrequently traveled that it is difficult to say. UAC records do not show any avalanches on Lone Peak in the last year. The most recent record of one is a skier-triggered slide from April 2023. However, the center reported that a skier triggered a slide in Big Willow in March.

“This is a rugged place,” Gordon said, “and this would be a very objective-driven type of destination for this crew.

“This was a group of very experienced, very serious, very dedicated backcountry skiers,” he added with tears welling up in his eyes. “Right now, our hearts and our entire community is feeling very heavy.”

Several agencies — including Unified Fire Authority, Draper Fire, Sandy Fire, Wasatch Backcountry Rescue, the National Forest Service and the Unified Police Department — responded to the incident. The search and rescue mission was staged out of the Alta Ski Area, according to the UPD.

Last year a skier died in an avalanche in Weber Canyon. In 2021, Utah saw one of its worst avalanche seasons in terms of deaths. Five skiers, a splitboarder and a snowmobiler died in three avalanches that season.

Editor’s note, May 9, 3:36 p.m. • This article was updated to reflect that Rosie Rivera is the sheriff of Salt Lake County.

Correction: May 9, 2024, 3:36 p.m. • This article was updated with the correct information for Lone Peak access.