The avalanche took place near Wilson Peak, on steep terrain facing north.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Search and rescue teams respond to the top of Mill Creek Canyon on Saturday, February 6, 2021, where four skiers died in an avalanche near Wilson Peak.
The avalanche unleashed by skiers swept eight people between the ages of 20 and 30, who were in two groups traveling inland, the unified police sergeant. Melody Cutler said. She said a group of three was from Mill Creek Canyon and a group of five was from Big Cottonwood Canyon.
All skiers carried avalanche safety equipment, including headlights, shovels and probes, Cutler told The Salt Lake Tribune. The unified police first received a distress call at 11:40 am, Cutler said. The four survivors managed to dig up the skiers who died, she added, but the bodies may not be recovered until Sunday morning, depending on the chance of more slides and daylight.
The four who survived had minor injuries and are off the mountain. Two people survived from each group, according to Cutler.
Drew Hardesty of the Utah Avalanche Center said the victims were experienced skiers, well known in the community, who considered their deaths to be a terrible tragedy.
The avalanche happened near Wilson Peak, said Hardesty, on the ridge line that separates Big Cottonwood Canyon and Mill Creek Canyon. He said it happened on a steep terrain facing north.
The Utah Avalanche Center considered the avalanche risk in the area “high”. Hours before the slide, he tweeted a warning that there was “High danger. Large natural avalanches at night. Dangerous avalanche conditions. Keep the angle low. “
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Search and rescue teams respond to the top of Mill Creek Canyon on Saturday, February 6, 2021, where four skiers died in an avalanche near Wilson Peak.
Utah Avalanche Center analyst Toby Weed told FOX 13 on Friday that, so far, 10 people in the United States the week before had not returned from the backcountry to see their families because they triggered a deadly avalanche.
He said the risk of an avalanche is so high that it is not a question of having the right equipment this weekend, but of avoiding the backlands entirely.
“It’s not getting any safer now – it’s getting more dangerous,” said Weed.
Meteorologists predict that weakened snow conditions will persist until the end of the 2020-21 snow season, the FOX 13 report said.
(Photo courtesy of John Diener) A slide near Wilson Peak above Mill Creek Canyon shows the location of an avalanche that killed four skiers on Saturday, February 6, 2021.
The UPD closed Mill Creek Canyon for recreation at least until Sunday, FOX 13 reported, but the restaurants and businesses in the canyon will still be open.
Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson said on Twitter that rescuers were at the scene on Saturday afternoon. Intermountain Healthcare sent three LifeFlight medical aircraft and teams to help, said spokesman Jess Gomez on Twitter.
Three died in an avalanche that swept 15 people in Provo Canyon, near the Sundance Resort in 2003.
Governor Spencer Cox tweeted that the deaths are a terrible tragedy. He said people should be extremely cautious due to the current avalanche conditions.
Hardesty also noted that the center knows about 40 avalanches that slid last week in the mountains around Salt Lake City, but “the actual number is probably much higher.”
FOX 13 is a reporting partner for The Salt Lake Tribune.