PARK CITY, Utah — Over the years, the Dutch Draw location just outside of Park City Mountain Resort has been the site of nearly a handful of avalanche-related fatalities.
On Tuesday, an avalanche was triggered by a snowboarder in that popular backcountry spot. Fortunately, the snowboarder was uninjured, but the slide path was massive. According to a Utah Avalanche Center observation by UAC Director Mark Staples, the avalanche was roughly 175 feet wide and nearly a foot deep.
“At the time I was the only one up there and it kind of felt a little surreal,” said Lucas Catania, a skier who had been shooting a timelapse video from the Park City Mountain Resort boundary. “For some reason, I had like an inkling that something was going to happen and low and behold the whole thing broke away.”
Catania captured the avalanche on video. Members of the PCMR Ski Patrol came over to the area to look for anyone possibly buried by the slide by using binoculars. The Utah DPS helicopter surveyed the scene from the sky by using a mounted RECCO device. It was determined no one was swept away by the slide.
“I know that that area of the Wasatch is arguably the most dangerous that we have here,” said Catania, who prefers to ski inside of resort boundaries.
“They are super dangerous because they are breaking deep and wide, I mean these are tree snapping avalanches,” said UAC Forecaster Craig Gordon to Fox13 on Wednesday.
It’s UAC’s Avalanche Awareness Week which means education events are taking place all week. Gordon will be hosting a ‘state of the snowpack’ presentation at Inspired Summit Shop in Park City on Thursday at 6 p.m.
