Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
BRIGHTON — Presidents Day weekend is typically a big weekend for Utah skiers and snowboarders, but outdoors experts warn it’s also an extremely dangerous weekend to be in the backcountry.
Officials at the Utah Avalanche Center say the avalanche conditions in Utah’s mountains are unusual, and that means there’s a risk of avalanches being triggered not just in the high elevations, but also in the mid and lower elevations.
Dean St. Onge and his sons were ready to barbecue and then hit the slopes at Brighton Resort Saturday morning.
“We're just here to ride, like every other weekend,” St. Onge said. “It's been pretty great — the powder.”
“The good thing is it hasn't rained up here this week, so it's been snowing all week,” said Jeremy Winkler, spokesman for Brighton Resort. “The snow is still soft. It’s pretty fun.”
Outside of Christmas Break, Winkler said Presidents Day weekend is the busiest of the year, and more people on the lifts hopefully means fewer in the backcountry.
An AirMed helicopter was brought up the canyon Saturday to help after an avalanche hit in the backcountry near Brighton. Flight paramedic Scott Thorell said there’s evidence someone might have been caught in it.
“Looks like it was human-triggered from the ridge,” Thorell said. “There’s some tracks that lead right into the debris field, some skin tracks.”
The avalanche happened in an area too dangerous to send in search and rescue, so the AirMed helicopter flew overhead with a long-range receiver that can pick up signals from a distress beacon. No signal was detected, so searchers planned to wait and see if anyone is reported missing before going back in the avalanche debris.
Authorities warn with avalanche conditions as dangerous as they are now, they suggest to stay out of the backcountry all together.
"There's really no reason for anyone to be in the backcountry when they have conditions of that nature,” Thorell said.
