Avalanche partially buries skier in Alta back country


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ALTA — An expert skier was injured Wednesday in an avalanche in the backcountry of Alta Ski Area.

The avalanche was set off shortly after 10 a.m. when the man followed his two companions, also expert-level skiers, down the Jaws Shoot area of Upper Days Fork — the opposite ridge face just north of Alta Ski Area.

At least one member of the group had skied the area several times in the past.

A 46-year-old man was buried in the snow for about three minutes before other skiers dug him out, according to Unified police detective Jared Richardson. He and the others in his group were wearing avalanche beacons and his companions used avalanche probes to locate him within minutes.

A group of six skiers who were also in the area witnessed the slide and rushed over to help, Richardson said.

The slide carried the man between 400 and 500 feet and buried him completely under snow, ranging between several inches and 3 feet of snow. The man wasn't breathing when the other skiers found him, but began breathing on his own once he was freed from the slide.

The man suffered an open compound fracture in one leg, but no other injuries were reported, the detective said.

Skiers called the Alta Central Dispatch at 10:18 a.m. A medical helicopter was sent and an avalanche forecaster to ensure the slope was safe for rescue crews. Once crews arrived, the patient was loaded onto the helicopter and taken to University Hospital in serious condition, Richardson said.

Richardson said resort operations appeared to be unaffected by the avalanche Wednesday afternoon.

The detective added that there was a delay in pinpointing the injured man's exact location because the Alta dispatch center has limited GPS tracking capabilities for incoming calls and because the callers were not providing dispatchers with information about their location.

"We really want to encourage people skiing, or even hiking in the summer months in the backcountry area, if there's an injury or an accident, to please call 911," Richardson said. "The 911 dispatch centers do have the technology to try to get GPS coordinates on where you're at. In this particular case, the groups called Alpha Central Dispatch, which at least got some resources coming. But unfortunately, it did take a little bit of time to narrow it down where exactly they were."

Contributing: Geoff Lieksik

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