Four skiers died, and four others liberated after an avalanche on Saturday in a backcountry ski area near Salt Lake City.
The Salt Lake City Unified Police Department got a customary hang-up call around 11:40 a.m. Saturday. Sgt. Melody Cutler, a public information officer with the police department, received a report on a slide in the Wilson Basin area with five people trapped.
Two groups of skiers, one was a group of three, and another of five started skiing on the mountain at the same time. However, Authorities think the group skiing caused the avalanche, Cutler said.
“Four of those skiers were able to get their way out,” Cutler said. “All four of the remaining are deceased.”
The skiers are aged from the early 20s to late 30s, according to Cutler. Moreover, a Life Flight rescue service was called to transfer the survivors out of the zone. A flyover was being conducted to decide whether it is safe for rescuers to take out the deceased tonight.
The place where the avalanche occurred is a “trendy backcountry ski area. Moreover, it has been under very high-risk avalanche conditions lately.”
We deeply grieve the loss of lives due to this shocking incident,” Wilson said.
The four are the latest in a thread of deaths caused by avalanches in three states, bringing the number of mortalities to nine.
A few miles from Saturday’s avalanche site another man died a week ago. He was caught in an avalanche near Park City Mountains Canyons Village resort. However, the Utah Avalanche Center has now published a report analysing the avalanche.
