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Christmas Eve turned to tragedy when two young men got caught in an avalanche in Cache County. The men were enjoying a day of snowmobiling with friends when they triggered the slide.
The slide happened at about 10:30 Wednesday morning on the back side of Logan Peak in an area called the Rodeo Grounds. "[It's] very popular, especially with the snowmobilers, this time of year," said Lt. Matt Bilodeau, spokesman for the Cache County Sheriff's Office.
The area may be popular, but it's also known for avalanches. "Our dispatch received a call via satellite that some individuals had been caught in an avalanche," Bilodeau said.
The avalanche was almost as wide as a football field and had trapped 23-year-old college student Jesse Johnson of Hyrum and his good friend 22-year-old newlywed Erik Jorgenson of Paradise.
"Other people in the area stopped to help. We had up to 20 people working up there at that time," Bilodeau said.
Searchers used probes to help recover the snowmobilers. "Search and rescue was up there. Life Flight was up there. Unfortunately, they weren't able to resuscitate them," Bilodeau said.
The two young men had been wearing avalanche beacons, and they weren't first-time snowmobilers. But the steep slope of the area and the fresh snow made it extremely fragile.
"It's tragic. It doesn't matter what time of year it is, we've lost two people, two of our citizens. It's extremely tragic that it is butted up against the holidays," Bilodeau said.
The Utah Avalanche Center cautions there was considerable to high danger of slides throughout the state. The center warned against backcountry travel in central to northern Utah, including the Uinta Mountains and the Bear River Range.
After the Cache County avalanche, another avalanche came down the mountain at Solitude Ski Resort. Salt Lake County Sheriff's deputies say at 2:30, the snow came down on an inbounds ski run at the resort. No one was caught in it, and no one was hurt.
E-mail: corton@ksl.com
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