Utah Mountain Highway Closed Amid High Avalanche Danger
February 16, 2021 /Local News

Utah Mountain Highway Closed Amid High Avalanche Danger

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A mountain highway east of Salt Lake City used to access two popular ski resorts was closed Tuesday after a snowstorm raised already dangerous avalanche conditions

Utah Department of Transportation officials closed state Route 210 in the Little Cottonwood Canyon to do avalanche prevention work in hopes of preventing anyone from getting hurt. The agency posted a video of an avalanche they triggered as part of the work.

The deaths of two men caught in avalanches in Colorado and a third in Montana over the Presidents Day weekend illustrated how backcountry skiers and others in the Rocky Mountain wilderness risk triggering weak layers of snow that have created the most hazardous conditions in a decade, forecasters say.

At least 25 people have been killed in avalanches in the United States so far this year — more than the 23 who died last winter. On Feb. 6, Utah saw its deadliest avalanche in about 30 years when four backcountry skiers in their 20s died and another four dug themselves out of a slide east of Salt Lake City.

A storm overnight Tuesday dumped about 20 inches of snow in the Little Cottonwood Canyon, home to Snowbird and Alta ski resorts.

Written by