Rain, snow and strong winds made the Utah Department of Transportation decide to close the road through Little Cottonwood Canyon at 7 p.m. Friday. That meant the ski resorts, Alta and Snowbird, closed early at 3:30 p.m. — something that doesn’t happen very often.
“It is a little unusual to have closures this early in the evening. Most of our closures tend to happen between 10 p.m. and midnight,” explained Mike Morey, the town marshal of Alta.
The Utah Department of Transportation made the call so they could get people out of the canyon before the storm hit.
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“We don’t want to take any chances,” said John Gleason with UDOT. “We are shutting Little Cottonwood Canyon for the night and we’ll be out there first thing in the morning doing some of the avalanche control work, explosives to bring down and trigger any potential slides.”
Shutting down lifts and getting people off the slopes early doesn’t happen often at the ski resorts.
“We were struggling today. We had a lot of wind; it was hard for us to keep our lifts open,” said Mike Maughan, the president and general manager of Alta Ski Area. “The wind was all but shutting us down too, so it made sense for us to kind of just end the day a little earlier so our skiers can get down the canyon and get home before this weather front comes in.”
Along with the closure, the town of Alta goes into "interlodge" at 9 p.m.
“Basically, it confines everybody in the town limits to a building until the interlodge closure has been lifted,” explained Morey.
But most importantly, they ask people to follow the rules to keep everyone safe.
“Some people might push the limits a little bit, they’ll try to drive up the canyon, find a place to park, intend on sleeping in their vehicle overnight, and that’s really the worst case scenario for us to have somebody at the bottom of the slide path when the explosive work is going on,” said Morey.
READ: Provo Canyon closed for next 24 hours due to avalanche covering US-189
The mountains are expected to receive heavy snowfall, especially at elevations of over 8,000 feet. A Winter Storm Warning is in effect until 5 a.m. Saturday for most of the state's mountainous locations.
With rain in the forecast for Salt Lake City, officials are monitoring streams and drainage systems. Sandbags are available for city residents, with a limit of 10, at 1530 S. West Temple.
Officials ask the public to be patient with these roads opening. FOX 13 News will provide updates on the developing situation as they are announced.
