Estimated read time: 1-2 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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.
OGDEN — The body of a longtime figure at some of northern Utah's ski resorts was recovered from the Ogden River Monday.
On Tuesday, the Weber County Sheriff's Department identified the victim as Richard "Woody" Wood, 81, of Huntsville.
"Richard was a very popular resident in the Ogden Valley as he worked many years for the Powder Mountain Ski Resort. At this time, it is unknown how Richard got into the swift-moving river," according to a prepared statement from the sheriff's office.
According to a 2015 article in Backcountry magazine, Wood was a longtime shuttle driver at Powder Mountain, and after retiring for a year went back to work driving a bus at Snowbasin Ski Resort.
Wood's body was recovered about 1:30 p.m. from the Ogden River. His car and some of his personal belongings were found earlier about a mile up river.
Heavy rescue teams from the Weber County, Ogden and Riverdale fire departments participated in the rescue operation. His death was being treated as an accident.
Wood grew up in Roy but had lived in Huntsville since 1978. According to his Facebook page, he attended Weber High School and Utah State University. According to Backcountry magazine, Wood's daughter, Jennifer, was a competitive snowboarder and nearly made the Vancouver Olympics.
