SANDY, Utah — After closing the entire day Sunday due to avalanche danger and mitigation efforts, State Road 210 in Little Cottonwood Canyon reopened Monday morning to a line of enthusiastic Utahns.
The opening comes at the perfect time as recreators hold out for an epic day on the slopes during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Holiday.
State Route 210, which runs the length of Little Cottonwood Canyon, reopened just after 10 a.m. Monday. Even though the canyon is ready to welcome visitors, officials warned of heavy delays as cars lined up for hours.
"You may be in fully stopped traffic after the road opens until the traffic queue clears," UDOT officials said.
Avalanche mitigation and road cleanup in both Little and Big Cottonwood Canyons persisted through the weekend as snow hammered Utah's mountains.
Alta Ski Area reported Monday morning that it received 20 inches of snow in the last day and 44 inches over the last two days.
Snowbird announced that it is attempting to open sometime after SR-210 reopens, but did not have an estimated time as its crews were out getting the slopes ready after three days of triple-digit winds.
Both canyons closed on Saturday night so crews could work on controlling several feet of snow that made for dangerous avalanche conditions.
Big Cottonwood Canyon reopened Sunday morning at around 8:30 a.m., but Little Cottonwood Canyon remained closed throughout the entire day as the Utah Department of Transportation worked "thoroughly and methodically in all sections."
Eventually, it was determined State Route 210 would not open at all on Sunday, much to the disappointment of enthusiastic skiers.
During the day, avalanche work continued in the canyon with UDOT saying "good progress" had been reached in clearing debris from slides that crossed the road.
