- Wasatch County search team found a snow biker's body after Snake Creek avalanche.
- The avalanche occurred Sunday; search was paused overnight due to unstable conditions.
- Recent avalanches in the area have led to multiple fatalities and injuries in Wasatch and Salt Lake counties.
MIDWAY — A Wasatch County search and rescue team has located the body of a 45-year-old Salt Lake man who was reported missing after an avalanche at a popular state park on Sunday.
The team located the man shortly before 9 a.m. on Monday, after a search was suspended Sunday night. Work remains underway to recover the person's body from the Snake Creek area of Wasatch State Park, said Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby.
The man's name was not immediately released, but officials said he resided in Salt Lake City's Rose Park neighborhood.
Wasatch County's 911 Center received a report of an avalanche in the area at 4:30 p.m. Sunday. One man on a snow bike was buried in the avalanche, according to the Wasatch County Sheriff's Office.
Emergency crews responded, but the large avalanche slide and unstable snow conditions prevented rescuers from remaining in the area. Search operations were suspended for the night, and avalanche control explosives were used to secure the area before the recovery effort resumed on Monday.
Search teams from neighboring counties and the Utah Department of Public Safety assisted in the search effort.
The sheriff's office warned the public to avoid the Snake Creek area, including access via Pine Canyon Road.
Sunday's avalanche marked the second fatal slide reported in the Snake Creek drainage within the last week. A snowmobiler who was riding with his son was killed when a slide was triggered on Wednesday.
Other high-profile incidents have happened in nearby areas. An 11-year-old girl was killed by an avalanche near Brighton Ski Resort on Thursday, and three skiers were injured by a pair of avalanches in Big Cottonwood Canyon on Saturday, following last week's heavy snowfall that fell on unstable snow in the mountains.
The Wasatch County Sheriff's Office is encouraging all backcountry recreationists to check current avalanche forecasts and conditions through the Utah Avalanche Center in light of the recent natural disasters in the area.
"Avalanche danger can change rapidly, and recent storm cycles have created hazardous conditions in many areas of the Wasatch mountains," the statement read.
This report may be updated.
