Late spring snow puts avalanche monitors on alert


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SALT LAKE CITY — It may be springtime, but the canyons along the Wasatch Front got quite a bit of snow Tuesday.

It's the best case scenario for fans of spring skiing: 20 inches in 24 hours at Snowbird Mountain Resort at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon. But the situation has officials at the Utah Department of Transportation and the Utah Avalanche Center urging caution.

UDOT avalanche supervisor Matt McKee says people driving along Little Cottonwood Canyon Road are more often in an avalanche zone than not, so his team is keeping a sharp eye on avalanche risk in the canyon.

"It's something we're monitoring. It's not too dangerous to the road right now. We did close (the road to Mt.) Superior, which is our most active big slide path," McKee said Tuesday.

With more canyon snow expected this week, McKee expects to stay busy.

"We're going to repeat (the amount of snow) we just got last night and today (on) Wednesday night and Thursday night, so we'll be back up to a higher avalanche hazard level," he said.

UDOT will close the road if there's too much danger, but McKee says people traveling off the beaten path need to pay extra attention.

"The hazard's going to rise in the backcountry when you get hit like that," he said. "Most of the people out look pretty savvy, but if you weren't expecting it you could get into trouble today."

The Utah Avalanche Center has stopped putting out advisories for the season, but workers their say as long as there's snow on the mountains, there's some risk.

Contributing: Jordan Ormond, Caitlin Burchill

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