LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON, Utah — A group of skiers said it was a "miracle" that nobody was killed in a "serious avalanche" in the backcountry of Little Cottonwood Canyon Sunday.
Only one skier was reportedly caught and carried nearly 2,000 feet in a series of slides near Lisa Falls.
The avalanche reportedly had a depth of two feet, a width of 100 feet and a vertical of 1,500 feet, the Utah Avalanche Center recorded.
A trio of skiers and one solo skier were involved in the situation and detailed exactly what led up to the avalanches, emphasizing mistakes that could have been deadly in another circumstance.
The skier who was ultimately caught and injured in the incident was solo in the area, following a trio of skiers also in the area, the accounts read.
"A party of three ahead of me triggered a south aspect windslab off the ridge; it had real energy and should have convinced me on the spot to reverse," the report reads from the solo skier. "Instead I told myself I would traverse lower on the south-facing terrain in hopes of less wind loading. Given the exposure this was a bad decision."
The skier who was caught in the slide detailed that they were hit by a smaller avalanche and deployed their airbag before a larger slide hit them and they were carried about 1,500 feet.
"My face was submerged immediately and my airway filled with snow," the solo skier reported. "While I tried to get my hand in position to clear my mouth I went airborne over a cliff, landed hard, and kept descending. When the slide stopped I remained submerged but managed to dig my face out, breathe, and begin to drag myself up and to the side of the couloir..."
After the slide, the trio moved into action to see how they could help, the report reads.
"One skier from our group continued to a lower viewpoint on the bed surface lower down where they made voice and visual contact with the skier in the avalanche, who requested help," the report reads in part.
Saying they likely suffered a concussion or mild hypoxia, the injured solo skier said at that point, one of the others in the trio made it down to help, calling for a helicopter rescue.
"I was barely able to speak let alone call my own rescue in a timely fashion," the report reads. "Without his initiative, I would have been in much worse shape. I was hauled by helicopter and stabilized by EMS with many broken ribs, broken facial bones, and a hemothorax."
In addition to the injured skier, the rescuer also requested to be flown off the mountain due to "rapidly changing stability and avalanche activity" in the area.
"This was a miracle. This avalanche ran through what anyone would consider unsurvivable terrain," the report continues, "We are so grateful that the injured skier is alive, but the skier in our group who descended to help them had to choose to expose themselves to significant hazard for an extended period of time.
The solo skier blamed powder fever on their poor decision-making, saying they "fell prey to the restlessness that comes from a long spell of poor snow then stubborn persistent weak layers."
All of those involved emphasized communication is key when recreating in popular backcountry areas and encouraged others to not take any risks when taking advantage of fresh Utah powder.
Their sentiments echo what the Utah Avalanche Center has warned for weeks, saying delicate snow makes for extremely treacherous and even deadly conditions across Utah.
