Search and Rescue volunteers on Friday recovered the bodies of two backcountry skiers who died a day earlier in an avalanche near Lone Peak.
The threat of more avalanches and unpredictable weather kept rescuers from recovering the bodies of the two men, ages 23 and 32, on Thursday.
Another skier survived the slide, which happened in a rugged, hard-to-reach area called Big Willow at an elevation of 10,600 feet. He was able to dig himself out and uncover his companions, who were equipped with avalanche beacons, probes and shovels. He was not able to save them.
The survivor, who is a local man, was able to walk from the helicopter to an ambulance. A spokesperson for the Unified Police Department said he was released from the hospital Thursday evening.
The three men had left from Hidden Valley Park in Draper early Thursday morning for the difficult expedition, authorities said. According to a report released Friday by the Utah Avalanche Center, they had just switched from uphill skiing to boot packing — a term for hiking in their ski boots — and were near the top of Big Willow Apron when a soft slab of snow broke off from above them. The survivor was in the lead, per the report, and was carried downhill on the looker’s right side of a sharp ridge. The other two were carried down the left side and were completely buried.
The UAC reports the avalanche was 250 feet wide and 500 feet long with a depth of 2 feet. It noted that wind-drifted snow may have played a role in the avalanche.
Authorities have not released the names of the two men. Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said Thursday that one is believed to be from the Salt Lake Valley and the other from out of state.
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