Increased Avalanche Danger Following Recent Snowfall

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Skiers and snowboarders are grateful for the fresh snow that fell on Utah’s mountains and resorts overnight.

However, that new powder also brings with it an increased danger in backcountry areas.

Avalanche forecasters said it can be easy to trigger a slide right now due to the layers of snow that have been building up with the on-again, off-again snow storms.

It has been a very dry winter, so anytime there is a heavy snowfall, so no doubt skiers, snowboarders, snowshoers and snowmobilers will want to get out and take advantage of it. As always, though, you need to be careful.

The Utah Avalanche Center has reported dozens of avalanches in the past few days. One of them took the life of a man in Summit County last weekend.

The center also posted a video to its Facebook page at the site where the deadly avalanche happened. Forecasters said the video helps show the public how dangerous conditions are right now.

“Basically, what we did is we put strong snow on a house of cards,” said Craig Gordon with the Utah Avalanche Center. “We flip one of those cards over, and now the entire roof crashes down on us.”

The gate to a backcountry area in Park City has been closed pending a meeting Thursday with the U.S. Forest Service.