Avalanche Fully Buries Powder Mountain Ski Patroller During Avalanche Control Work
Powder Mountain Resort, Utah – At 9:50 AM on Tuesday, January 19, 2016 a ski patroller triggered an avalanche while ski cutting during control work on an east facing slope near 9,421′ James Peak at Powder Mountain Resort. The ski patroller was caught in the avalanche and carried 1800 vertical feet. He was fully buried.
Rescuers responded immediately and extricated the fully buried ski patroller from the snow. According to KSL.com, the ski patroller was buried face down under 3′ of snow for 6 to 10 minutes.
The patroller suffered minor injuries and was airlifted by Intermountain LifeFlight at 11:25 AM to McKay Dee Hospital in Ogden, Utah. The ski patroller was released at 3:30 PM.
This avalanche incident took place in-bounds. The avalanche danger for the backcountry at the time was considerable.
The Utah Avalanche Center also reported a human triggered avalanche in Park City on the same day. That avalanche happened on the PC ridgeline on an east facing slope at 9500′. It was 2′ deep and 35′ wide. No one was seriously injured.
In December, a Snowbasin ski patroller was buried in an avalanche during control work.
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