SALT LAKE CITY — Upwards of 30 inches of snow have fallen in some areas in the Wasatch Mountains with those eager for powder already hiking in to take advantage.
Utah Avalanche Center has been observing the conditions and heeds warning for those taking some early season turns.
“You don’t want to ruin your season before it gets started,” said Craig Gordon with the Utah Avalanche Center. “Rocks and deadfall and stumps and slamming into those objects I mean that’s probably the biggest hazard right now.”
UAC anticipates a busy winter season following suit from a busy summer with more people flocking to the mountains during the pandemic.
“Sometimes our avalanche awareness skills don’t really keep up with our ski or riding or snowmobile skills so we’ve got to think about toning it down a little bit,” said Gordon. “Actually, we saw a huge uptick in human-triggered avalanches, close calls and near-misses so that’s the exact thing we want to avoid.”
In the 2019/2020 season, six deaths stemmed from avalanches in Utah. Four of the six were snowmobilers.
Fox 13 – Salt Lake City
