Avalanche — Central Mountains, Utah

2011-03-26 · Central Mountains, Utah

Event narrative

A group of very experienced backcountry skiers went to explore Big Horseshoe Bowl, an area near Ephraim, Utah, on the morning of March 26th. They had read the avalanche forecast, which had an overall hazard of Moderate with pockets of Considerable, so they were being careful, testing different slopes for avalanche activity before deciding if they should ski the slope. As they were testing one of these slopes, and about to decide that that particular slope was too dangerous, a large avalanche was triggered.

The avalanche caught and carried 3 of the individuals. Two of these three were freed relatively quickly, but the third was completely buried. Using their beacons, they located him and eventually dug him out of the snow. They were able to revive him after extensive use of CPR, and the entire group was recovered by a SAR team later that day, but the individual died the next day.

Wider weather episode

A group of experienced backcountry skiers was exploring a slope in Sanpete County when they triggered an avalanche, catching an carrying 3 people, and eventually killing one.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 292351. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.