Closer Veiw of Dutch Draws Avalanche
The Story from "The Park Record"
Rescuers rush against timeMassive avalanche traps unknown number of victimsBy Patrick ParkinsonOf the Record staff
Saturday, January 15, 2005 - The person's tracks were still visible near where the snow broke loose from the rest of the mountain. But that was the only human sign rescuers had to go on.
At 6 p.m. Friday, "multiple" victims were feared dead after an avalanche above The Canyons ski resort boundary. Rescuers from law enforcement agencies throughout northern Utah were searching at dusk for people who witnesses say were buried by the massive slide near an area known as Dutch's Draw.
The avalanche, which was roughly 500 yards long and 30 feet deep, occurred on U.S. Forest Service property adjacent to the ski resort, Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds said.
"These individuals passed by a gate with some skulls and crossbones on it," he said, about a barrier that separates the resort from the backcountry. "Because of the depth of the snow, it's making the search effort very difficult."
The snow near the top of the slide was nearly 16 feet deep, however, depths increased as the snow slid, Edmunds said.
Ski patrollers from The Canyons were first on the scene when the avalanche was reported to the Summit County Sheriff's Office around 1 p.m. More than 80 searchers soon began scouring the area with dogs and in helicopters.
"There's a high possibility of a second slide this is an area where we're not supposed to have skiers and snowboarders," Edmunds said, adding that search efforts would continue as long as rescuers could stay safe. "It's getting very close to a recovery operation."
With no bodies recovered Friday evening, Edmunds said searchers were speaking with roughly 10 witnesses to determine the number of people who may be buried.
"It's very dangerous up there," he said.
As word of the avalanche spread around the country, Edmunds fielded calls Friday afternoon from family members of people who had skied that day at The Canyons and hadn't checked in.
Those with information about possible victims are encouraged to call (800) 828-8477.
"If you go outside the boundaries of any ski resort you are on your own," Edmunds said, adding that The Canyons is not legally responsible for the area where the slide occurred.
The victims, believed to be male, likely accessed that area of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest via the Ninety-nine 90 lift at The Canyons, he said.
"These are people who were reckless and they may have paid with their own life we haven't talked to anybody that was in the slide that survived," Edmunds said around 5 p.m. "The likelihood of survival at this point is very low."
He still had no information about where the victims are from, their ages or whether they were equipped with avalanche beacons.
"I'm willing to say more than two," he added, when pressed about the number of people possibly buried in the slide. "The witnesses were in the vicinity 'scary, huge, a lot of snow coming down,' that's how they described it."
Five lifts were closed at The Canyons Friday afternoon as resort staff assisted searchers, said Katie Eldridge, a spokeswoman for the resort, strongly discouraging patrons at The Canyons from ever leaving the resort boundaries.
"There's no avalanche control that goes on in this area," Edmunds said. "You're putting your lives at risk and you're putting the lives of my searchers at risk."
The Canyons will resume normal operations Saturday but avalanche danger remains extremely high in the backcountry.
"This is somewhere where they just shouldn't have been," Edmunds said. "We've had numerous avalanches over the last few days do not venture into the backcountry, it's far too perilous right now."
According to the avalanche advisory, posted Friday morning on www.avalanche.org, "The avalanche activity is widespread enough to make most avalanche professionals nervous."
