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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.
ALTA — A 9-year-old boy has been hospitalized after he was buried Wednesday by a sudden roof slide of snow in Little Cottonwood Canyon.
A family was building a snowman outside of the Superior Point Condos, located between Snowbird and Alta, when the snow on the roof of the complex came crashing down onto the boy.
The family called the Alta Central Dispatch center, and a deputy from the Alta Marshal's Office arrived two minutes later. The deputy searched the snowfall by using an avalanche probe, the marshal's office said in a news release
The deputy was joined by the Utah Department of Transportation's avalanche forecasting team, who helped locate the boy and pull him from the snow. When they found him, he was in a semiconscious condition, the release said.
"The avalanche was witnessed by other children in the area, so the children were able to point to the very close location where the child had been buried and the responding rescuers were able to get a probe spike and get that child dug out within a couple of minutes," said Dave Kelly, a forecaster for the Utah Avalanche Center.
Unified police, Unified fire and Alta Ski Patrol also responded to the scene. The boy was transported by ambulance to a LifeFlight helicopter at an Alta Ski Area landing zone, and then flown to Primary Children's Hospital. The marshal's office said the boy is in an improved condition as of Thursday afternoon.
"The fact that there was first responders that were able to be there within minutes, and that the 911 and Alta central system worked quite well was great. That's what saved that child's life," Kelly said.
Circumstances are still under investigation, but the town marshal said the incident appears to have been an unfortunate accident.
With the weather slowly warming up, the risk of snow slides increases.
"I would just watch for water dripping off that roof line, anytime the sun comes out after we've had a big storm — even if it's just 6 inches of snow — there is a possibility that it could come off," Kelly said. "Six inches of snow may not bury someone, but it's more than enough to scare someone and cause injury."
