SALT LAKE CITY — With it being ski season, a lot of people are rooting for more snow on top of what we’re already seeing on the Wasatch Mountain Range. But with the snow comes danger in the form of avalanches.
“We have right now a historically dangerous snowpack,” said Greg Gagne, a forecaster with the Utah Avalanche Center. “We have widespread weak snow and beginning around Christmas it began to snow, so we’ve been putting a strong layer of snow on top of this weak foundation, so it’s created this really dangerous structure.”
Gagne said the Avalanche Center has received reports of at least 70 Avalanches over the past few days — two of which turned deadly. According to officials, the body of 38-year-old David Ethier of Canada was recovered on Tuesday in Millcreek Canyon after he was reported missing on Sunday, while the body of 54-year-old Reed Heil of Sandy was also recovered Tuesday following an avalanche the same day at Silver Fork in Big Cottonwood Canyon.
“Both incidents were on slopes that were steep and north-facing, exactly the kind of terrain we’re telling people to avoid right now,” said Gagne.
According to Gagne, both victims were snowboarding. He said although Ethier was accompanied by his dog who survived, any rescue gear consisting of a beacon, a probe and a shovel wouldn’t have helped the men since they were snowboarding alone.
With more snow in the forecast, Gagne said he couldn’t stress enough that it’s important to know where you are if you’re recreating in the snow.
“Right now we’re asking people that if they do enter the backcountry, they have to be able to identify avalanche terrain, that is slopes 30 degrees or steeper. If they can identify it, they can avoid it — they can enter the backcountry with a relatively high degree of safety,” said Gagne.
