People hunker down as Little Cottonwood Canyon goes into ‘max security interlodge’

LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON, Utah — The snow has been piling up in our canyons this winter and so has the danger. Little Cottonwood Canyon went into “maximum security interlodge” Friday morning.

Lexi Dowdall has been lodging at an area between Alta and Snowbird since Wednesday for a work event. The Salt Lake resident said she had never seen this much snow in the canyon.

“I grew up coming to these canyons. This will be an unforgettable winter,” Dowdall said. “Just the sheer volume of snow is just wild!”

She hunkered down in the basement of her rental for about three hours during max interlodge.

“Which means we get away from the north-facing side of the building because that’s where the bulk of the avalanche paths are. And we had to go down into the basement and face south,” Dowdall said.

Traffic up and down the canyons were at a standstill while crews worked to clear the roadways. Dowdall said she was thankful for the steps being taken to make sure everyone is safe in the canyon.

“It’s illegal to leave the building, yet you know, these mountain ops people are out there, plowing, bombing, just working their tails off to keep everything safe.”

UDOT planned to do avalanche mitigation work by helicopter Saturday morning and open the canyon by 9:30 a.m.