He quickly found others and pulled them out from under the snow.
(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake County Search and Rescue members await the Utah Department of Public Safety heli team to reach Mill Creek Canyon on Sunday, February 7, 2021, to recover the bodies of four skiers killed in an avalanche.
Saturday’s avalanche that took the lives of four skiers from Utah’s interior could have been even more deadly had it not been for the quick rescue work of a skier who clung to a tree to escape the slide that took seven others.
The wreckage completely buried six skiers and partially buried a seventh. The only skier who was not arrested began a search for his buried companions. Using a transceiver, this skier, who has not been officially identified, quickly found signals being transmitted by headlights carried by skiers buried and dug in two prisoners under 3 to 5 feet of snow, according to meteorologist Drew Hardesty.
“He … grabbed a tree and held on tight while the avalanche hit him and buried everyone else,” said Hardesty. “And at that moment, to see this happen and then have the means to go and acquire the [beacon] signs and not one, but two full and deep burials and rescuing two lives, is incredible. “
Wilson Glade is at the top of Mill Creek Canyon under the division with Big Cottonwood Canyon in the heart of the Wasatch Mountains ski region, famous for its fine snow on easily accessible alpine terrain.
According to official reports, a group of five skiers entered Wilson Glade from Big Cottonwood while a group of three entered from below Mill Creek. At the time of the avalanche, the two groups were climbing when the slide was “triggered remotely”, according to predictor Nikki Champion.
The skier who managed to avoid falling into the slide trap was traveling in the group of five.
In most avalanches in the interior, a skier or snowmobiler drives the slide while riding or skiing in the starting area. This does not seem to be the case for what is Utah’s deadliest avalanche since 1992.
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Saturday’s slide fits these characteristics, with the exception of the tilt angle. This avalanche was unleashed on a relatively mild 31-degree slope, likely proof that conditions were exceptionally unstable that day.
Due to Utah’s shallow snow packs, the recent round of winter storms has led to extreme avalanche risks, as the new dense piles of snow in what meteorologists call “persistent weak layers” that are ready to break free.
While skiing on slopes subject to avalanches, skiers from remote regions are taught to keep enough distance from each other to minimize the chances that more than one will be caught in case the snowy slope gives way. That way, if someone is completely buried, your teammates will be able to rescue you.
This principle usually works while the parties are skiing on a slope. It is rare that more than one skier is caught on most of Utah’s slides, but Saturday’s massive avalanche occurred while these groups were climbing, presumably in single file via a “skin trail,” according to Hardesty. As a result, all eight skiers were on the slide path at the same time, although the two groups were quite far apart. Two skiers from each group survived.
“Multiple-victim avalanches are uncommon in the course of our avalanche accidents since 1940. They happen, but they are rare,” said Hardesty. “I would say that by many metrics and standards, this avalanche accident was against the trend, because our average number of accidents in the last 30 years has decreased or decreased slightly – despite the explosive use of the hinterland.”
Avalanches have claimed 21 lives in the United States this season, 15 just last week, putting this winter on the right track to be among the deadliest on record. And winter is barely over.